Synthetica (6 page)

“
Here,”
he said as he handed them over. “These are day passes. They'll get
you around the offices and up to the observation deck and into the
canteen. Try not to bother anyone too much.”

“
Thanks!”
Dalla grabbed hers eagerly, staring at it with wonder. Xander held
out the second one to Anais. There was a slight tingle in her
fingers as his hand brushed against hers.

“
Do
me a favour,” Xander said under his breath to Anais. He nodded
towards Dalla who was pinning her badge carefully to her shirt as
she walked towards the lifts. “Keep her out of trouble, would
you?”

Anais raised an eyebrow.

“
And
what makes you think I'm not trouble?” she teased. Xander smirked.

“
You
are
more
trouble than she is. But unfortunately for me, she'll be working
here on Monday. I'd hate for her to get fired before her first day.”

“
Fair
enough. See you later.” Anais pinned the badge to her jacket and
waved goodbye to Xander as she began to follow Dalla towards the
bank of lifts at the back of the lobby.

“
Anais,”
Xander called, and she turned back to the desk. He beckoned to her
and she leaned towards him, curious. Xander leaned over the desk and
kissed her swiftly on the cheek. “Have fun. See you in a bit.”

Anais felt the spot on her cheek burn where he kissed her. His dark
purple eyes where inches from her own, and his lips were curved into
a soft smile. On impulse, she kissed him on the lips before drawing
back, smiling at his obvious surprise. She blew him another kiss,
before turning and running towards to Dalla, trying very hard to
ignore the heat in her cheeks and the lightness in her stomach.
Dalla shook her head at her as she arrived.

“
What?”
Anais asked innocently.

“
Oh
honey, you've got it bad. Not that I'm surprised,” Dalla threw a
look over her shoulder at the security desk and sighed. “He's
gorgeous.”

“
Everyone
in this city is gorgeous,” Anais pointed out. Dalla rolled her
eyes as she pressed her fingertip onto the button by the lift. The
light flashed green, and a lift began to descend towards them.

“
Just
imagine what might have happened if I'd been late to graduation as
well,” Dalla sighed dramatically. “I might have been lucky
enough to meet him first.”

Anais elbowed her.

“
If
you had big feet too, you mean. I don't think he's forgiven me for
making him spill beetroot juice all over his clothes.” Even now,
the memory made her cringe. It hadn't even been her fault, not
really, despite Xander being adamant to the contrary. It wasn't her
fault if some little kid had decided to step out in front of her,
just as she was running to the Academy in full graduation clothes,
causing her to swerve and trip up straight into Xander. Xander still
maintained it was a deliberate move on her part.

“
You
just couldn't resist me and my manly charm,” he'd teased her
later. She'd punched him in the arm for suggesting it.

There was a soft jingling noise and the lift arrived in front of
them. The glass doors of the lift slid silently back and Anais
followed Dalla inside, the doors shutting smoothly behind them.

*

Dalla
couldn't decide which floor to visit first, so Anais had leant
forward and made the decision for her, sending them straight up to
the observation deck on the 294
^th
floor. Anais had loved it; the whole level, including the floor, was
made out of glass. It was an eerie feeling to look down and see
nothing but buildings and tiny cabs and trains as the city stretched
out beneath them. From this height, nothing looked real; it was as
though she was looking down onto a toy city, complete with miniature
toy trains and cabs.

Dalla refused point blank to go out onto the glass but Anais, after
shuffling out cautiously, had quite liked the feeling as though she
was floating in the air. There had been other visitors there, or
employees on their break, enjoying the view of the whole city
glinting in the sun as it rolled out towards the horizon.

Dalla had forced her to move on sooner than she would have liked,
and they seemed to have spent what seemed like hours looking around
the different levels. It all looked the same to Anais, but Dalla had
kept pointing out different computers and whispering excitedly what
model it was, and what kind of software it could run. She'd almost
fainted from excitement when one employee with a large orange quiff
had agreed to show her how to code a piece of software on his
computer. Anais suspected this was less to do with being helpful,
and more to do with Dalla's magnetic way of charming people into
doing what she wanted.

Now they were in Civitas' canteen, situated above the observation
deck. The only good thing to come out of this whole trip was that
the machines in the canteen thankfully didn't read their ID chips,
meaning Anais was allowed to order anything she wanted without the
need to bother about her protein levels. As she licked the
strawberry ice cream she'd coerced Dalla into buying for her, Anais
stood at the window staring out at the city as the sun began to set.
It would be dark earlier tonight. Already a few pinpricks of light
were being to appear as the city began to wind down for the evening.
It was strange – although she still felt hurt and angry over the
way she'd been treated, there was something soothing about looking
out over the city with it's spiralling skyscrapers and the winding
river. She might not agree with the way the city was run, but she
couldn't help but think how beautiful it was. In some ways, it gave
her hope that no matter how ugly her immediate future looked, there
was always something better and brighter to look forward to.

There were footsteps behind her and she turned to see Xander coming
towards her, now dressed in jeans and a dark t-shirt. He smiled as
he got nearer and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“
Hello
again,” he said cheerfully as he scooped the ice cream cone out of
her hands and licked it. “Mmm, that's nice.”

“
Hey,”
Anais laughed, trying to snatch it back, but he held it up high out
of her reach. “Give that back. I've had to follow Dalla all over
this stupid building today, I've earned it.”

“
Hmm,”
he pretended to think. “Okay. You can have it back. It'll cost
you, oh, two kisses though.”

Anais happily obliged, though she was secretly glad that there was
no one around to witness their display of affection. As they pulled
apart, Anais grabbed the ice cream back before Xander could change
his mind. She licked it happily as they both turned back to study
the view. Happiness swelled in her chest as she leant her head
against Xander's shoulder and he put an arm around her. They stood
for a moment, gazing out over the city, not needing to fill the
comfortable silence between them.

“
I'm
sorry,” Xander said in his quiet voice, and in an instant Anais'
happy mood deflated. She didn't need to ask him what he was sorry
for. She remained silent, unwilling to talk about her disastrous
career's advice again. She didn't want to think about it or discuss
it, she was sure she'd have enough grief from her parents about it
when she got home; all she wanted to do right now was eat her ice
cream, spend the night curled up with Xander and then enjoy her last
day of freedom tomorrow.

Anais shrugged her shoulders, stuffing the rest of her cone into
her mouth so she wouldn't have to talk.

“
It
won't be forever,” Xander said, and the words rankled.

“
Funny,”
Anais said as she swallowed. Her voice came out sharper than she
intended. “Dalla said the same thing. But I've never once heard of
anyone getting a transfer out of their career, have you?'

Xander was silent for a few seconds while he contemplated this.

“
True,
but just because we've never heard about it doesn't mean it doesn't
happen. Maybe the council likes to keep it quiet, in case everyone
decided to apply for a transfer,” Xander reasoned.

“
They
wouldn't have to apply for a transfer if the bloody council had
given them the job they wanted to begin with,” Anais said,
nettled, but Xander only smiled. He gently put a finger under her
chin, so she was looking up into his dark eyes.

“
There's
always a way, Anais. Just because you didn't get the job you wanted
straight away doesn't mean you never will. Some things happen for a
reason. Maybe you're meant to work at the factory, make them realise
what a shithole it is, and get it shut down,” Xander said. Anais
managed a half smile.

“
Easy
for you to say,” she tried to match his light tone. “Coming from
someone who got their first choice. Maybe you and Dalla should get
together, you're obviously meant to be.”

“
Maybe,”
Xander said, but there was a mischievous light in his eyes. “But I
prefer grumpy, pink haired girls who won't share their ice cream.”

This time Anais did laugh, but it was quickly muffled as Xander
pressed his lips to hers. She felt the last of her worry drain away
as she kissed him back, revelling in the feel of his mouth against
hers. They quickly pulled away at the sound of Dalla's boots
clicking across the floor.

“
Don't
stop on my account,” Dalla said as she ate the last of her own ice
cream, smirking.

“
Did
you have fun today?” Xander asked her, turning towards her,
although he kept an arm around Anais, pulling her closer to him.
Dalla beamed at him.

“
Oh
it was amazing! I can't believe the kind of gear you have here! I
didn't even know half of the software was even available! I don't
suppose there's anyway you could get me a copy of the latest version
of Xiscor, is there, so I can maybe practice at home?” she asked
eagerly.

“
Nope,”
Xander shook his head. “All the computers here are encrypted, so
you can't access any of the files or systems offsite. Even if I did
manage to get you a copy, it's probably coded so it wouldn't work
properly on your computer.”

Anais zoned out as Dalla began to talk about the different computer
programs she'd seen so far that day. With Xander's arm around her,
his hand gently tracing circles on her arm, it was hard for her to
still feel angry at Mrs Persimmon. She felt slightly better after
Xander's joke, as though it wasn't as serious or as depressing
working at the factory as she thought it would be.

She
heard a
ping
and a little envelope flashed up in her vision. She opened it to
find a message from her dad:

Anais, where are you? Thought you and
D would be home hours ago! How did CA go?? Dad xx

With a jolt, Anais looked at the time in her eyesight – it was
almost four. With the city curfew not coming into force until ten,
normally her parents would be happy for her to stay out, but Anais
had completely forgotten about the murder and the worry it had
evoked in her father. She hastily composed a message back,
reassuring her dad that she was with Dalla and that she'd set off
home now.

“
Sorry
guys,” she said, cutting across Dalla and Xander's conversation
about different methods of coding. She looked up at Xander. “I've
got to go. Dad's going to go crazy in a minute, if I don't get home
soon.”

“
Oh,
but, we haven't seen the research labs yet!” Dalla pleaded.

“
I
thought they'd be off-limits?” Anais raised an eyebrow at Xander,
who smiled sweetly.

“
They
are. But I can at least show you where they are. Besides, I have a
feeling that she'll pop if I don't,” Xander grinned as he jerked
his head towards Dalla. Anais felt a pang of guilt at staying out
even later, but she waved it aside. She'd be home soon enough, and
Dalla would be with her on the journey home if her parents were
worried about her travelling alone from downtown.

“
Alright,
but I've got to go straight afterwards,” Anais said. Dalla
practically bounced out of the room in her enthusiasm, while Anais
and Xander followed more slowly.

Xander steered them towards the row of lifts that would take them
down to the labs. There were only four lifts, compared to the large
bank of them that had brought them up to the observation deck and
the main offices. Xander pressed his thumb onto the fingerprint
scanner by the door and typed in floor level 55. The lift began its
smooth descent down, the soft lights pulsing gently overhead.