Radioactive (11 page)

The next morning I’m one of the first awake and eating breakfast. I see A350 and without hesitation, I head toward her.”

“Good morning.”

Frowning, she looks at me suspiciously. “Good morning, can I do something for you?”

She seems to see through my kindness immediately. “Yes, I want to monitor the food distribution system in the safety zone,” I say it straight out. It’s the perfect way to meet both Finn and the rebel contact.

“No way,” A350 replies bitterly. Apparently she is still mad at me.

“But it’s my project!”

“You are not as important as you think,” she calmly replied and walks past me to leave the breakfast room. But she will not get rid of me that easily. Hastily I run after her. “Legion commanders are important. Those people look up to us. They rely on us blindly. I want to see how the people react to the new arrangement.”

Annoyed she sighs. “Okay, you’ve convinced me,” she admits defeat. “You have half an hour. I will take you myself.”

Obediently I nod and refrain from shouting triumphantly. We stand on the elevator and she operates it with her thumbprint.

“It goes without saying that I do not want you wandering around the entire safety zone. You only have permission for the atrium,” she reminds me when the doors open.”

“Of course,” I agree with her. She rolls her eyes, annoyed. Apparently she does not believe a word I say, but I do not care as long as she lets me go.

While the elevator slides into the safety zone, my heart frantically begins beating faster. I think of Finn. Will he remember me? Maybe a part of his memory has returned. If so, he’ll give me a sign, I’m sure of it.

The doors slide open and I step out into my old home. Today, the walls of the atrium show a rainforest while from the speakers is the sound of a gentle lapping of rain and wind. Before the three food counters, lines have already formed. There are no crowds. Everything runs completely free of complication. My project is expected to be a great success. Under these conditions, it will not be long until I get the approval to serve real food.

At the end of the left line, I see Finn in his brown suit. I walk up to him and welcome other safety zone residents with a friendly nod.

Finn only notices me when I stand right next to him, however he does not seem pleased to see me.

“Finn,” I whisper to him while smiling.

He looks at me as though I had lost my mind and backs away, “Why do you call me that? My designation is D577,” he replies irritably.

“Do you not remember?” I ask him patiently. “You are Finn and I’m Cleo. We belong together.”

He shakes his head stubbornly. “Leave me alone!”

He advances in the line, ignoring me. Does he really not remember me or is he acting? When he woke up, he seemed happy to see me.

“Do you not remember Cleo? Cleo which rises with the sun? I was with you when you woke up.”

“I remember that. It was you who woke me up early. Because of you, they had to stun me again,” he says angrily. The Legion’s brainwashing must have been a success.

“I did not want you to be alone when you woke up.”

“That would have been better for me.”

“No, it isn’t. If you could remember anything about your past, you would be sorry,” I assure him.

But the more I say, the angrier he gets. “But I cannot remember and I do not want to. Just stay away from me!”

His words are like a slap in the face. Bravely I urge back the lump in my throat and grab again for his arm. “I will never give up on you, whether it pleases you or not.”

Furious, he breaks away from me. “Do not touch me! You’re crazy! Leave me alone!” He shouts toward me. All of the other residents of the safety zone turn toward us.

Reassuringly, I raise my hands. “Everything’s okay.”

Although it hurts, I have to accept that I will not get my Finn back today. I back away and start searching the crowd for C403, the rebel contact. There are not many fighters in the atrium at the moment. Hastily, I search through three lines in search of her, but do not see her. Desperately, I look around the atrium, when suddenly someone touches me on the shoulder. Startled, I turn around and look Clyde right in the face. I have not seen him in a while, he looks worried.

“Why haven’t you contacted me?” He accuses me. I see dark shadows under his eyes. He has not been sleeping.

“That’s not as easy as you would think,” I try to explain myself. “I do not have permission for the elevator. I cannot leave without the permission or supervision of another Legion commander.”

However, he does not care about my explanations. “Zoe is getting worse and worse. I think she is going crazy in her cell.”

“I know, I saw her yesterday through the camera,” I confess to him.

“You have to do something!” Clyde says and I feel his pain. Does he think that I do not want to help? Once I became a Legion commander, I thought I would have an easier life, but it is harder than ever. I must warn the rebels against an attack from the Legion. I have to make Finn regain his memories, and I have to get Zoe out of her cell. But no one asks how I am doing. I barely manage to sleep at night out of sheer worry.

“I’ll do my best!” I assure Clyde sheepishly. He nods and leaves me alone. I would hope that he would at least have asked how I was doing.

Defeated, I walk back to the elevator and see a fighter standing near it. She seems to have been watching me for some time. On closer inspection, I realize it is C403. Relieved, I run toward her.

“I greet you, C403.”

“It is an honor, Legion commander A518,” she says and bows briefly before me.

“I have a message for you,” I tell her, but she interrupts me before I can continue.

“It seems to me that you have news for many people. Is that not a bit risky?”

Is she warning me? It’s true, my behavior is certainly striking, but so far I’m sure I could not clarify my behavior to A350. I’ve forgotten to be careful. I’ve gotten too used to her protection. Maybe C403 is right; I should restrain myself in the future a little more.

“You are right, but the message I have for you is more important than any other.”

She nods her attention.

“The Legion is planning a raid on the caves. You have to warn them as quickly as possible. They should flee immediately.”

Horrified, she opens her eyes. “How long do I have?”

“I do not know. It could be days. It could be hours.”

She nods again, “I’ll take care of it.”

I see she is thinking of something else. I look to her questioningly.

“When did you decide you belong to the rebels?”

“I am on no side. I am only helping my friends.”

“And this has nothing to do with Finn?”

“You know him?”

“Of course. Even before I saw you talking to him,” she says, as though it were self-evident. Obviously I’m not the only one who can read faces.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“Ruby.”

A
fter dinner, D560 comes to my room again. Although I have nothing against her, I still cannot understand why A350 keeps sending her to my room. Just today, I behaved more than exemplary when she came into the safety zone to pick me up. I was already in front of the elevator waiting for her to pick me up. After that, I listened patiently to her lecture on the history of the Legion, without interrupting her or asking questions. I never asked about Finn or Zoe. She should be really happy with me, but instead she continues to send me my personal guard dog.

D560, however, seems to literally enjoy my presence. With every night she spends with me, she seems more relaxed and more cheerful. Today, she even told a joke. Granted, it was pure sarcasm, but still. We were already in bed when someone knocks on the door.

Curious, I walk to the door. A566 stands before it. Obviously he longs for an adventure. D560 stands behind me and looks at me in a panic. “You’re going to let him in?”

“I will only open the door to listen to what he has to say, and then he will leave.”

“And if he refuses to leave?” She asks anxiously.

“Why should he?” I ask blankly and pull the door open without giving D560’s words a second thought.

A566 has the same warped look on his face, but when he sees D560 behind me, his face darkened.”

“What is she doing here?”

She is guarding me on orders of A350,” I tell him and wonder about his derogatory attitude.

“Why would she send you a member of the kitchen staff and not a fighter?”

I do not like how he talks about her, certainly not in her presence. I always knew he considered himself to be better than others, but to say that in front of her is just plain disrespectful. However, I never thought about it before. What reason could A350 have sending D560 to me? Perhaps because I don’t know any of the fighters? Or is it to attract as little attention as possible? I’ll ask her about it later, but it’s definitely not A566’s business.

“Why did you come?”

His old familiar grin returns. “I wanted to invite you to come with me to the safety zone, but you probably won’t be able to with your watchdog.”

Actually, I did not want to accept his offer, mainly to protect him from getting in trouble with A350. But after speaking to Clyde about Zoe, I would like to go to the sickbay and offer her some encouragement. She needs me, but I still hesitate to accept his offer.

“A350 is already suspicious, she would catch us,” I say hesitantly.

But A566 only makes a dismissive gesture. “Don’t worry about A350. I’ll just manipulate the recordings. She will see nothing.”

“You can do that?”

“Of course, I’ve done it many times and have never been caught,” he says proudly. “Just come along, everything is prepared.”

I turn pleadingly to D560, “This is important. Please do not tell A350.”

She whispers when she answers, A566 cannot hear her. “I would never betray you, but you should not go with him.”

“He has helped me many times. I trust him,” I assure her, although it is not true.

She sadly shakes her head. “I cannot change your mind, but please, take care of yourself.”

“Do not worry, I can defend myself,” I answer with a grin.

She does not return my smile. “He is stronger than you.”

I have no choice but to trust him. He is my only chance to see Zoe. Therefore, I will follow him into the hall and leave D560 alone back in my room. I know she will not betray me to A350.

Before we reach the elevator, A566 starts gossiping.

“You’d better stay away from her,” he warns me with a seriousness I have rarely experienced from him.

“Why?”

What is going on between these two that they have to warn me about each other?

“She’s lying and is always making up stories.”

“Why would she do such a thing?”

He shrugs. “Probably to make herself more interesting. She’s jealous of you and your position.”

It would be understandable that a D-Class crew member would be jealous of a Legion commander. But to me, D560 was different. She always wanted to leave the Legion, to no longer be a part of it.

“I do not believe that. She always seems so reserved. She hardly speaks to me, how could she be lying to me?”

“Don’t ask me, but I’m not so sure A350 really sent her to you.”

“Why would D560 lie about that?”

The elevator doors open.

“Maybe to sleep in a comfortable bed and enjoy the view?” Obviously he has had enough of the subject, because he suddenly changes it. “So, where to today? Back to D577?”

I shake my head. “No, not today. Today I want to visit someone in the sickbay.”

“Your wish is my command,” he admits with a grin in reply. The elevator opens and we walk through into the atrium. He begins walking to the large double doors, the entrance to the sickbay. “May I ask who you want to visit there?”

“D523. She’s a friend of mine. We used to work together in the food distribution division.” I conceal the fact that she is one of the rebels.

For a moment he seems satisfied with my answer, but silence has never been one of his strengths, so he begins grilling me with his next question as soon as we enter the sickbay.

“How do you feel about the impending attack on the rebels?”

I least expected him to ask this question. Can it really be that the person I constantly distrust is actually interested in how I feel about the attack? Again, I am overcome with the suspicion that I have judged him wrong. He grew up in the safety zone and trained hard in order to achieve the greatest goal of all of the inhabitants. He has become a Legion commander and has every right to be proud. How can I expect him to think differently about the outcasts or the lower classes, if something else was never taught?

“I’m worried,” I confess to him. “And to be honest, I hope they will escape.”

“How many are there? Maybe ten? They have no chance against a fighter unit of fifty men.” Although I was aware of this size difference before, his words rob me of any hope.

“Perhaps they will manage to hide,” I submit.

“But for that to happen, someone would have to warn them,” A566 replies. What does he expect to hear from me? That I have already sent someone? If so, that would jeopardize Ruby’s safety, and I cannot allow that to happen.

“You never know, maybe they’re better than our fighters. That would be their only chance,” I steer away from his question.

We reach Zoe’s cell. Clyde stands in front, guarding it, as he does every night. He looks at me confused, because I appear with another Legion commander.

“Hail, C515,” I greet him formally, whereupon he bows briefly before us.

“To what do I owe the honor, Legion commanders A566 and A518?”

“I want to visit D523 and check on her condition,” I explain truthfully and regret not being able to speak openly with him.

“A566, would you please open the door for me?”

He follows my request. As the door opens, I can see Zoe cowering in the far corner of her cell. She looks alarmed just seeing two Legion commanders standing in front of her. She does not recognize me.

“I will go in alone,” I say to A566 in a tone that brooks no argument. He looks a bit disappointed, but nods, his eyes peer curiously into the interior of the cell.