Intentionality (13 page)

I still have nothing of note to share with The Resistance from Lily, no clear visions in my daydream moments. They arrived at the ‘SPA' safely. The excitement and giddy response during the transfer from sea to land seems to have been subdued by anxiety. ‘The fear of the unknown', Willem says. Of course I am assuming that it is the vision of the mystery boy, appearing from the clearing, at the park that has taken the innocent gleam from their faces. He is a stranger, he is transmitting aggressive signals, he is not part of the fairy tale script and now other doubts are creeping in. There is always the second possibility that they are tired, a little stir crazy and even though I hate to repeat it, scared of the unknown! Lily has taken the decision not to communicate, because she knows that I will pick up on any waver in her voice, which will cause me immediately to jump to the wrong conclusions.

The vibration in my head that left after the failed abduction has been slowly creeping back. At a different level, more confused, dense and throbbing. I need to get out of here. I need to distract myself with something mundane, an everyday chore perhaps, that I can do without thinking. When will I be missed by the Acer community? When will they come for me, so that I can sit another Ascension test?

Willem is gone. He has a shift that can't be missed on Deck Zero. If he doesn't report for his scheduled hours, his team will begin looking for him and inevitably questions will be asked about me. My communicator band has been removed, taken to Deck Zero and a virus has been designed by one of Mrs Jones' students, to block my details on the computer systems.

Suddenly I am aware of being desperately hungry. This is a scary realisation because for the first time in my life I have no idea what to do about this basic human need. I have been served for the whole of my life by my living unit and catering pod. Almost certainly I should be able to solve this problem. Above all Monos will have to eat. There must be something on this Deck that I can feed myself with. It doesn't need to be nutritious even, just something to keep my grumbling stomach quiet. This is a mission of my very own, how to stay alive and remain undercover simultaneously. It has occurred to me, as I am in the Mono sector that I don't need an exit code. So that's my first problem solved.

However as I make a move to appear around the wipe board, I am addressed by Willem:

“Mae, are you thinking of leaving that classroom?”

How does he do that? I am absolutely certain that I sealed off the communication side of my Evo-skill.

“If you are leaving the safety of that room and it is my guess that you are doing so, because you are hungry, stop and look inside the long grey cabinet in the corner of the room.”

I am looking, there is a cabinet, the handle turns easily and the doors open without a sound. I am looking, not sure what for, but I am looking because I trust him and I am an inquisitive sort.

“Well?”

“Don't rush me Willem, do I need to remind you that I am rummaging through Mrs Jones' cabinet on your command. However you are clearly not here and so, who in their right mind would believe a Seeder, in the Mono sector, caught with her hands in a very official looking place?”

“Ok, point made, you are looking for a silver tin with a handle. Don't open it, just follow the instructions. I shall see you soon. Keep safe and wear your anklet.”

The silver tin turns out to be a large briefcase with a handle on the top. It looks like it will open into two parts if I open the clasp, which is hiding under the handle. I can't do this even if I wanted to disobey the instruction, because it seems to need a code of numbers to release the clasp. There is an envelope attached to the side of the case with my name on it. This note is encouraging me to read it. I don't need more than one invitation, so I open the back carefully.

It is a service employee map for the back corridors, this is how the Mono's travel around The Nest without needing to mix and influence the Seeders. I knew that these routes existed but of course a girl late for a lesson could get lost trying to navigate in these enclosed spaces. So I left that challenge to those with a brave and robust character. Skye would run around these passages, she said they didn't have the same slippery surface, therefore she could train for speed and Summer of course navigated these corridors whilst getting to places in quick time during her organisational frenzies. I am convinced that the Monos knew that they were being used but then it isn't the Monos that have a problem with integration is it!

Willem has thoughtfully left me a morning energy bar and a bottle of water. I check for my anklet, which is of course in place before manually sliding the door open. That's a novelty!

I am to make my own way to Deck Zero, which makes sense, as that's where I know Willem will be. But how will he explain my presence to his team? What will I be doing there?

It has taken roughly ten minutes to navigate the corridors and service lift. The excitement just about won over the fear and trepidation that I initially experienced at the thought of leaving my safe cocoon. In the end it was straightforward, I didn't need the map really but I will keep it just in case. The junctions are efficiently labelled; the coloured lines on the floor are extremely helpful. I am following the deep blue line. I am attempting to make only the minimum of sound as I travel along the gritty floors. The height of the ceiling, coupled with my completely inappropriate footwear, combine to produce what I can only be described as the squelch march of a deep-sea diver in wet flippers. Skye was as usual correct in her detailed description of these tiny corridors. The floors are grainy, rough to the touch. Unlike the sterile corridors in the Seeder levels, these walls are colourful. They depict scenes from the surface or wild patterns and designs. They are hand drawn or painted. No two walls are the same. I could spend hours learning about and appreciating this gallery. It makes me question the way that we were taught. Boxed in as we are, with no freedom to question or evolve. I was an empty computer memory drive waiting to be installed, for the necessary information to be uploaded. This creativity is also needed in Intentionality surely.

I have now identified the metal doors leading out into Deck Zero and wonder if I should communicate my arrival to Willem.

“Mae, you have arrived. Wait for me to come and get you. My team are just leaving on a maintenance job under the hull of The Nest.”

There he goes again. How does he know what I am doing?

The door is beginning to open, should I hide, run, press myself against one of the pieces of artwork for camouflage?

It is Willem, I wave madly like someone possessed and run towards him. His grin lights up his face, cheeky, yet strong and reliable at the same time.

“Did you enjoy your little secret mission? I needed you to learn the corridors and understand them on your own, so that if anything happens, you can help yourself to vanish into the maze. Never remove that anklet so that wherever you are I will be able to come and get you.”

I have been an A-star dunce; he knew I was out of the safe house behind the screen and later waiting on the other side of this door because my anklet was transmitting to his palm device. I can see it now! It all makes perfect sense. His leaving this morning was like a trial run.

“Have I finally passed an assessment? My first ever! Do I get an award of some sort?” I enquired sarcastically, whilst being secretly more than a little bit proud of myself.

It is true I have never passed anything so important before. First I can fend off an attacker and now I can navigate my way out of danger. I have arrived as a real life super hero! Well maybe that's a bit extreme but I can't stop smiling about it, one of those smiles that you are not consciously in control of. Like some greater force is pulling a string fixed at the top of your cheek and not letting it drop, this in turn gives you an uncomfortable grin.

“Your prize Mae will be revealed as you enter the deck. I really hope you like it. I wanted to distract you today. My sources on Lily's sub tell me that the girls are in the Spa and have been shown to their rest quarters for the day. My guess is that they will sleep, as you seemed to be giving us a picture of ‘over excited children the night before Christmas'. They will all be exhausted. I don't think Lily will communicate for at least the next six hours, which gives me the ideal opportunity to educate you with the Mono plans for the future!”

Inside I can see the usual sway of water on the surface of the air hole and the metal safety bars. If I look up I can see the observation area, it's empty, thank goodness. In the corner near the gas canisters is a basket. Old fashioned, slightly scruffy. It has two handles; it seems to be made from woven sticks. Inside the basket is a red and white squared piece of fabric, which holds glasses, plates, cutlery and plastic lidded boxes. I can also see the top of a champagne bottle.

“I knew that you would be hungry as it really wasn't your day at all yesterday. Therefore, having assumed that you would pass the corridor assignment, I planned a picnic as a reward. However we can't just sit here in damp sea-sprayed air. The observation area is not the appropriate place for a celebration so…”

Willem has moved towards a control bank behind a barrier. Something is whirring and not inside my head. The platform has begun to move ever so slightly as I can feel my head becoming dizzy. If I look towards the air hole itself, I can just make out bubbles rising to the top in uniform lines, together with a mass appearing underneath the increasing bulge of the waters' shiny surface.

Emerging from the depths is a vessel. It shares a resemblance with a huge round fish. The front face is completely opened up by a huge see-through screen, enveloping at least half of the circumference in a semi-circle. The back seems to have attached to it the most enormous fan that I have ever seen, very much like the one on the back of my hairdryer! At this point its arrival from the depths below has slowed to a grinding halt. The water has receded and the choppy surface has regained calm, peacefulness, just a few rogue waves lap on the edge near the steps.

Willem is glowing as he looks towards me. I must appear to be dumbstruck. Never have I been so close to such a small vessel. I can only assume my next few hours will be spent in much the same emotional state. I think I am going off The Nest. I think he has arranged for me to travel in this vessel. Me and my knight in shining armour, alone amongst the elements.

“If you stand back, I shall be able to release the hatch, load lunch and then regale you first with the necessary safety talk. This may be your only way to escape The Nest if things go wrong; I want you to be as ready as you can be. Following this, we shall take a trip to the saviour of the Monos.”

“Oh is it King Neptune?” I asked in a daze.

“King Neptune? In which world do you live Mae? This is a post Evo-shift miracle, not fairy tale corner.”

I don't feel in the slightest way embarrassed by his rebuff, we have a strange relationship, mainly because I have never previously been allowed to enter into a significant conversation with either a boy or a Mono. This minor mockery of my innocent side only makes our bond stronger. I must admit that if this conversation were to be with another Acer, one that was not in my immediate circle of friends, I would probably have buried my head in shame then retold the utter embarrassment of the conversation to Lily during recreation time.

The sub is practical, hard wearing and also incredibly confined. We are sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, knees touching. My mind is wandering, he smells different, the warmth of his skin is radiating onto my arm. I am filled with the urge to hold his hand. Perhaps it's because I am so lonely without Lily, or even because I feel so very safe by his side. I have never held the hand of a boy. There are no Seeder boys in The Nest. I have never even experienced the hand holding, I assume is the duty of a parent. If we are to be this close for the whole afternoon, I must keep myself within my little area. Willem clearly has a plan, which entails training me for an emergency.

Willem clicks dials, presses buttons and flicks at switches. It's like a game of chess; each move leads to another. I wonder if I am to memorise these moves. The bubble sub booms into action spurting out great flumes of seawater at the back, while at the same time sinking rapidly under the surface. Huge rotund air pockets glide by the window and then release themselves above us silently. The metal hull and the surrounding collar of the deck are creaking, producing eerie scraping sounds. In only moments we are below The Nest. The view is astounding, every angle filled with shiny silver bubbles dancing inside the immense coating of utter black. The view staring back at me is of two teenagers sitting close to one another but further away in their minds than you think would be possible, in such a confined space. One is controlled and confident the other smaller teenager is shrivelled and clammy looking, I can see the whites of her knuckles as she secures herself to the chair. I really must relax; the last thing I need is another black out.

As I fidget and shuffle myself into a position that I can be comfortable in, Willem places his hand on the top of my knee. The warmth of his fingers radiates like a warm bath across my skin.

“Breathe deeply Mae, I am not the enemy. I have only ever wanted to keep you safe. Watching you for months has been the hardest thing that I have ever done, but now that I have you, I am certainly not going to put you in any danger.”

Why is he talking in my head when it's just the two of us?

“I do feel safe with you Willem, but I haven't been so close to a person other than Lily ever and since the events of yesterday, my mind is racing, trying to keep up, information and actions are being unleashed in front of me faster than I can understand. I am running a sprint race having been trained for a marathon!”

“Mae, there have always been questions regarding the Ascension, Harvest, and even this Nest. They have always been the grumblings of ill-treated Monos. I am part of a group of Monos called ‘The Resistance'. We are fighting, as you know, for the right to live as we wish, as we were promised. That much you already know. However, recently, questions are gathering pace. You and Lily seem to be the key. Ever since your set of Seeders were matured early, Natura has become volatile. We intend to push on faster with our plans. I have brought you out here to check a few things. The first was that we could communicate correctly away from The Nest. Then secondly I wanted you to really believe in what we are trying to do. To show you that we are not an evil force, attempting a military takeover. We have very real plans that do not involve destroying what we have slaved to create. Intentionality is as much ours as it is the Acers.”