Perception (4 page)

My heart skipped.
Dexter
?
Could Liam’s note be referring to a person? This guy, maybe? Was that why Liam
went to the outside? What would my brother have in common with a guy like that?

Suddenly, I knew what
I needed to do.

Chapter 4

The news story ended
just as my ComRing vibrated. I tapped it and a message flicked across my palm.
It was Charlotte. I tapped the message and her three-inch, head and shoulder
hologram popped up.

“I heard about Liam.
I just can't believe he hasn't come home yet. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess. Hey,
can I come over?”

“Uh, sure. We're
almost ready to leave for Mexico, but I have a few minutes.”

I drove my pod to
Charlotte’s even though it was only a fifteen minute walk. She lived close to
the north gate which was the real reason I wanted to go there. Charlotte
greeted me in their courtyard when I arrived, and gave me a big hug.

“What have you heard?”
she asked.

“Unfortunately, not a
lot, but I was wondering what you can tell me about the outside.” I glanced
toward the gate. It was a block away, but I could see the iron bars standing
open. It allowed free passage out, but you had to scan your ID to get back in.
There was an unbroken stream of pedestrian and mobile traffic flowing in both
directions.

“Not much,” she said.
“It's not like I go
out
.”

Most of the GAPs our
age didn't, and guards ensured that younger kids never left without parental
supervision. I never had a reason nor the desire to leave. All the walled
cities had everything you needed inside them: shopping, schools, recreation,
airports. Even vacations like the one Charlotte was about to take were to other
GAP cities in the world. We could live our whole lives and not have a reason to
go out.

“But you can
see
out. I just thought....”

“Hi, Zoe!”
Charlotte's little brother ran outside with a bag to throw into the family car.
His blond hair was the color of bleached wheat.

 “Hi, Ryder,” I
called out.

 All the families I
knew where similar in appearance. And each had either a boy and then a girl, or
a girl then a boy. There were no variations.

Before Liam
disappeared I would never have considered going to the outside. Now I felt I
had no choice. I waved good bye as Charlotte's family left for the airport.
Then I walked the block over to the gates. Peering out, I felt a shiver of anxiety
creep down my spine and encase my body. It was normal to fear the unknown, but
still, I knew I was being irrational. There was no real reason to be afraid.

I tried to shake it
off. If I wanted to find out what had happened to Liam, I had to go
out
.

I inhaled deeply and
walked through the iron gates. They loomed over the entrance, eclipsing the
walls like the intimidating guardians they were meant to represent. The guard
in the pedestrian line gave me a cursory glance and then a nod; I was obviously
over the restricted age of fourteen. And that was it—I was
out
. But my
initial bravado quickly ebbed. Unlike the streets of Sol City, the outside
street lighting was darker, casting eerie, cone-shaped streams of light on
littered streets. The light above me buzzed, and I jumped. I hadn't paid
attention and dusk had crept up on me without my notice.

The crowds thinned
out quickly, and a quick glance over my shoulder told me that most of the
people were going the other way, inland away from the beach. My immediate
thought was to turn around, especially when I spotted a group of young men
gathered under one of the lights, smoking cigarettes. They wore sleeveless
shirts, some with leather vests, and all of them eyed me up and down.

I was such an idiot
to think I could traipse down the streets on the outside without being noticed.
My hair was like a beacon, a white-blond banner shouting, “Look at me, I'm not
from here!”

One of the guys
whistled, and my heart jumped. I kept walking, head down, thinking that if I ignored
them, they’d go away.

Another whistle, and I
looked up. One of the guys took a step toward me. My pulse raced, its rapid
beating hammering in my ears. The guy’s gaze narrowed, lustfully scanning my
body. My eyes darted around, searching for safety. There was no place to hide. I
was on the
outside
.

My body suddenly took
over, and I turned on my heels, sprinting towards the gate. I pumped my long
legs, my breaths quick and loud. I kept my eyes focused on the iron gates, its broad,
metal wings welcoming me back to the nest known as Sol City.

I slowed at the sight
of the guards. I bent over, hands on my knees, catching my breath and I glanced
behind me. I couldn't see the gang, but I could hear them laughing.

I barely had my
breath under control when I offered my hand to the auto scanner. A red light
scanned the chip that had been implanted at birth. The pedestrian gate opened
and let me through.

My legs were still
shaking when I climbed into my pod, instructing it to take me home.

I hated the outside.
Hated
it
. I’d never go there again. A tear escaped from my eye and I wiped it
away, trying not to think of what might have happened.

I massaged the chip
embedded in the fleshy part of my right hand between my thumb and forefinger,
forcing myself to relax.

The chip. It reminded
me of Liam. Of course, he had a chip. Everyone did, or almost everyone. Some
naturals refused to have it implanted for religious or political reasons.

A chip meant Liam
could be tracked, as well as any money he spent, where he spent it and any
place he visited. I knew the authorities had to wait forty-eight hours before
they were legally permitted to track a person's chip, but it had been well over
that time frame and my parents
had
filed a report. How was it that he
hadn't been found?

Unless he’d had his
chip removed. Or unless, for some unfathomable reason the authorities didn't
want him to be found. That could explain my negative premonition about Officer
Grant. It seemed unlikely, but it was the only answer I could come up with.

 What had Liam gotten
himself into?

It was dark by the
time I got home. Paul was reclining on the sofa in the living room reading his
tablet. The sight of him engaging in a leisure activity caused my anger to burn.
I’d just risked my life trying to find Liam, and he was sitting here,
reading
?

“Why aren't you doing
something?” I demanded.

“What?” Paul seemed
startled by my presence.

“Liam is missing and
you're just ...” I flapped my arms.

He swung his legs
around to a sitting position. “Now wait a minute, Zoe. You're not the only one
who wants to find Liam.”

“Then why hasn't he
been found? He has a chip! Why haven't the authorities found him by now?”

 Even if he was dead,
they should've found him, but I didn't say that part aloud.

When Paul didn't
answer, I turned my back to him and stomped upstairs to my room.

There were only two
reasons I could think of as to why the authorities couldn't find my brother. He
was involved in something bigger than I and my parents had thought, something
the authorities wanted to keep quiet, or Liam had removed his chip himself
somehow in order to prevent discovery. Neither thought was very comforting.

And then there was
Zack Dexter. What part, if any, had he played in Liam's disappearance? If he
knew anything, I needed to find out what it was.

But that would mean
going back to the outside, and the thought of that caused my nerves to twitch. I
detested the outside. I didn't belong there.

Chapter 5

When I saw Alison’s
drawn face at the breakfast table the next morning, I knew my brother hadn’t
returned. The toast was dry and tasteless in my mouth as I accepted my fate. I
had to go outside. I had to find this Dexter person.

My mind worked at
something to say to my mother, some small word of comfort, but I drew a blank. I
tossed the uneaten portion of my breakfast into the trash and headed back
upstairs. My heart sped up as I thought about my plan–my next move.

I stared at my pale
image in the mirror over my dresser. No point in putting on make-up or
bothering with my hair, not where I was going. Instead I quickly washed my face
and brushed my teeth. Then I headed back downstairs to the garage.

I hopped into my pod
and directed it to the nearest costume shop. Sol City had several, since its
citizens often celebrated festivals that required masquerading. I knew I had to
change my look dramatically. Not only so I would fit in on the outside, but so
Noah Brody wouldn't recognize me. It was entirely possible he would be with
Zack Dexter.

The Sol City shopping
district took up several square miles. Three and four-story malls filled entire
blocks, and bright, digital signs beckoned shoppers to come in and spend. I
parked my pod in the lower-level car park and took the glass elevator to the
main level. I walked past, and sometimes through, holographic models showing
off the latest fashions in the middle of the stores.

I entered Costume
Crazy, and a tall, slender clerk in a pink wig greeted me.

 “May I help you?”
she said.

I glanced at the
girl’s name tag. It said Raine. “I need to drastically change my look.”

“Are you going to a
party? What’s the theme?”

“Not a party. More
like I want to surprise someone.”

“Oh, you want to
trick them into thinking you’re someone else?”

I wrapped my arms
around my chest, feeling vulnerable, unsure that I could pull the charade off. “Yeah,
that.”

Raine tugged on her
pink wig. “So, subtle, not flashy?”

“Right. I want to
blend in.”

“In Sol City?”

“Uh, no,” I said, my
heart sinking. “The outside.”

She hesitated for a
moment then started walking. “Let’s start with the wigs.”

The wigs were made of
real hair. I ran my fingers through a few, admiring them. “I think brunette is
a good idea,” I said.

Raine helped me try
on several, and I chose one with mid-length chestnut strands. Once my own hair
was pinned up and tucked under it, the wig looked convincingly real.

“Okay, so now, you’re
brunette,” Raine said, “but you still kind of look like you.” She sashayed down
another aisle and I followed her.

“Try these.” Raine
handed me a small package containing a pair of brownie-colored contacts. “There’s
a sink and mirror over there. Here are the drops.”

My eyelids fluttered
like crazy, resisting the intrusion, and she had to guide me through the
procedure. Once the brown lenses slipped over my pale blue eyes, I knew there
was no going back. My earlier decision not to wear make-up was a good one.

A smile crept over my
face unbidden as I inspected myself in the mirror. Even I couldn't tell who I was.

Raine offered a small
applause. “Totally different person. It’s amazing how hair, make-up—or in your
case, no make-up—and eye-color define a person.”

Now for a wardrobe.
People on the outside dressed a little differently. They tended toward darker
colors, if what I saw on TV and in my short stint on the streets was any
indicator. GAPs usually went for higher-quality, costlier wear. Raine helped me
find a pair of last year's jeans and a plain soft-blue t-shirt. When I
considered my full alteration in the mirror, I thought for the first time that
maybe I could do this. Maybe I could deceive Noah Brody.

“Well, if you’re
looking for the wall-flower look,” Raine said, appraising me. “I think you
nailed it.”

I thanked her and
scanned my palm in payment before leaving. Then I instructed my pod to take the
new Zoe Vanderveen to the north gate. Unfortunately, Paul had programmed the
pod to shut down at the gates, so I had no choice but to walk once I got there.

Then I remembered
that Noah knew my real name. I needed a fake one. My mind went through a few options
until I settled on Chloe Morgan.
Chloe
because it rhymed with
Zoe
,
and I wanted a name I would be most likely to respond to instinctively, and
Morgan
because it was Alison's maiden name.

My ring buzzed before
I got to the gate. It was Jackson. I turned off the visual before I answered.

“Zoe?”

“Hi, Jackson.”

“How come I can't see
you?”

“Um, I turned the
visual off because I just stepped out of the shower.”

“Really? That sounds
steamy. Turn it on, I want to see.”

I smiled at the
teasing tone of my boyfriend's voice. “Sorry, can't do that.”

“Maybe another time.
So, do you have plans today? There's a beach party starting up this afternoon.”