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Allie slept until late in the day. When she woke, she knew neither where she was, nor what day it was. Being underground, she could not even be sure if it was night or day. Her clothes were different, too. She remembered it was noon with the children in the woods.
Allie smiled at the thought of her teacher being an Elder. She should have guessed from the start: it was Mrs. Taylor who first took an interest in her and did the trick with the ants.
Stretching and yawning, Allie rose from bed. Being stricken with panic, she quickly reached for and was relieved that she still had her necklace around her neck. She walked out of the room and down the hall.
Allie regained her sense of where she was and went to the cafeteria, hoping to find her friend there. However, the room was empty. She walked over and opened a refrigerator door and took out a small carton of milk and found a doughnut. After eating, Allie went down the hall to the nursery, knowing she would find a clock there. As she walked down the dimly lit hallway, she turned a corner and entered the larger hallway and noticed patterns on the walls. Allie stopped and stared at the patterns for a moment. She smiled: her abilities had not left her yet and she hoped she could go home and jump around in her backyard in the trees beyond their fence. She strode down the hall and saw the familiar stars, suns, rainbows, and others. Remembering Sara stopping her early, Allie extended her hand to a multicolored rainbow and traced the pattern. She felt a strange sensation and traced a blue star; this one felt different. Extending her hand toward one of the suns, she reached toward it to touch it and feel its sensation. She knew it would be different from the others.
“Stop!” shouted Melanie, who had come from the opposite direction and stopped to watch what she was doing.
Allie froze for a moment, looking at Melanie with confusion. Melanie had not spent much time with her. Allie knew that she was a Caver and lived at Caveena full time, but nothing more.
Melanie was twenty-two years old and strikingly beautiful, with long, two-tone blond hair with a distinctive small single braid of red and green hair, and blue eyes. She was tall – almost six feet, in fact – and thin, so she looked almost like a model. She walked toward Allie and when Allie looked at her necklace her cross seemed to sparkle with her every step.
“Don’t touch the walls,” she warned. “Did you see Stella earlier?”
Still confused, Allie’s mind was not functioning enough to understand what she was hearing. “What?”
“Stella – Mrs. Taylor, your teacher, did you see her earlier?”
“Yes.”
“She gave you a shot?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.” Melanie turned and Allie followed her down the hall to another room.
Inside the room were several chairs and a television mounted on the wall. Allie thought of her father and his small waiting room, only these chairs were big and comfortable. Melanie directed both of them into seats.
“This is a lounge area; it also can be a testing room.”
“Are you going to test me?”
“Yes, but later.”
Allie looked about, fastening her eyes on a wall clock; it read 8 pm. Assuming it was the same day she felt better. “What are we going to do now?”
“Just talk. Allie, there is a lot to teach you and not enough time to learn everything. To be successful here, you have to remember things and curb your curiosity at the same time. The shot Stella gave you is a serum they developed over the years to help humans reach their world. It is called TX-27T, and contains adrenaline boosters, sensory enhancers, body shapers, and many others. Your blood is now thicker than normal. Your red blood cells, the ones that carry oxygen, have been reshaped to hold more. Your white blood cells, the ones that protect your system by fighting diseases, have also been changed to make them stronger. You are now what they call an enhanced humanoid. You can run faster and jump higher than others, and you can see and hear better than them as well. Which brings me to a bit of bad news for you. We try and use people who are not into sports; you are not allowed to play sports, not even in your backyard with friends and family. The reason is simple: you would win too easily and draw attention to yourself, and through you, us. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Though she was not sure if Allie really did understand, Melanie continued. “Like our children, you are unsafe in the outside world and can never do anything to draw attention to yourself. Have you paid attention to Sara and her behavior?”
Confusion spread across Allie’s face, so she shook her head.
“Sara acts more like a typical teenager at school, sometimes even one with low abilities, and no one is the wiser. Here at home, she is brilliant at her job and very mature and dedicated to her cause. She handles the children with care and they believe in their hearts that she is their mother. They love her and respect her like a child reveres its parents. The people outside these walls have no clue of whom she is, and that allows her to carry out her job. Your goal is to be like Sara. You must fight the urge with everything that you have, not to be different from anyone else. If a student attacks you, verbally or physically, you will surrender and not fight back. You will resist the urge to show them up and show everyone what you can do. If you display your powers, you put everyone here at risk. We cannot take the chance on you hurting us and these children. If you cannot control your anger and curiosity, we will have to remove you from the program and wipe your memory of everything. This is life and death, Allie, and you are required to grow up faster than ever before. You hold lives in your hands.”
Thinking about her new position in life, Allie nodded. “I told Mrs. Taylor I belong here, and I do. I will not let anything happen to Lila or anyone else.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Come on and I will give you some insight into your new abilities.” Melanie stood and led Allie back into the hallway they had just come from. She pointed at the colors and patterns. “Do you know the Egyptians and Aztecs wrote with pictures?”
“Yes; we covered them in school last year. Each picture told a story or meant something in their language.”
“Yes. We are just as old and have a similar language here. The colors and patterns all mean something. They are names and stories of great people. This hall is for the Honored Dead. It is sacrilegious to touch them. Even though we pledge our lives to their cause, we are still not worthy enough to touch them. Never let anyone see you touching them.” She moved to a wall with red colors and patterns. “This one here, the red tells you that it is a female, and the star’s sharpness tells the century of life and death. The rainbow tells her house and the colors on it tell her rank. There is a color code you will need to learn to decipher the numbers with. It will be your second year of training before you get to it.”
“And the sun, there in the lower right-hand corner?” Allie asked with curiosity, wanting to know everything about everything.
“That is how you open the door. Once opened, it can’t be closed. Your fingerprints will betray you if ever you do open it, and they will kill you. This way.”
She walked off without another word and Allie followed in silence. Even though she would never tell anyone what she was seeing, she still wondered what people would think if she told them.
At the end of the hall sat a familiar testing room she remembered all too well. Allie entered the room with misgivings and sat at the table. Melanie opened the box sitting on the table. After taking out large flash cards, she stacked them, then held the first one up and asked Allie what she saw.
Allie studied the picture and responded. “The capital letter A.”
“What color is it?”
A strange question to ask but she responded, “Black.”
Melanie held up more cards and Allie correctly guessed what letter they were. She then continued to more advanced cards and held up a swirly pattern. “What is this one?”
“It is black swirling with white. It kind of reminds me of the Milky Way galaxy.”
br /> Melanie frowned and turned the picture around and studied it herself. She then put it down and held up another card. “Look in the right-hand corner. What do you see?”
This was an ink blot picture that looked like a butterfly because of its mirrored sides. “The wing of a butterfly.”
“Look into the circle and concentrate.”
Allie focused on the circle and sparkles of colors appeared. She saw small dots like stars in the sky that grew bigger as she focused on them. Focusing now on just one of the stars, she made it grow bigger and change color, so it began to shimmer in the light. “Wow! It is sparkling like a twinkling star.”
“Very good.” Melanie said with pride.
Together they went through a series of tests, finally, Melanie put the cards away. “You did extremely well. The cards show that you have great potential and make adjustments on the fly. Those are the qualities we look for in caretakers. You have passed the test.”
“With flying colors,” said Allie, laughing at her own joke.
“Ha ha,” said Melanie. Clearly the girl had a lot of kid left in her, but she and the others would mold her into perfection. “You need to help now with the evening feedings, and then you’ll be done for the day.”
They left the room and went to the nursery. Melanie fed Kelly while Allie fed Marianna.
“Melanie, can I ask you a weird question?”
“Of course, it is always better to ask me or Sara than Bethany. What’s on your mind?”
“The incubators, why are they still here? I don’t know much, but I thought they were only used by premmies in hospitals.”
Melanie laughed and stood. She directed Allie to put her baby into a crib. “That is a good question. Come over here and put your hand in it.”
When Allie’s hand touched the bottom of the incubator it felt warm.
“The babies cannot hold internal heat for long periods of time until they are a year old. The incubators give them their constant heat source until then.”
“So… they are dead?”
“No, silly. They are born cold and deficient in nutrients. Without great care from us they will die quickly. Now, let’s finish their feedings and get you on your way.”
When Allie’s session was almost over, Malcolm entered. “Well, lassie, are you ready to call it a day?”
Allie was not ready to go but she knew her time was up and she better get home to keep her mother from worrying about her. “If I have to.”
“You do,” said Melanie with a chuckle.
Allie put the baby in her incubator and left out the door with Malcolm. He drove her from the day care center to her house.
“Malcolm, don’t you get tired of driving? I mean, the bus and now a car – don’t you ever want to be driven for a change?”
“I suppose you would like for me to pull over and let you drive, eh?”
Allie laughed. “Nope. I hate driving. My father wanted to teach me and I didn’t like it at all. I just thought you got tired of taking people places.”
“Oh, lass, I see what you are saying. I don’t mind; everyone has a job and this is what I was meant for. When I was your age, I knew this would be my life and reconciled myself to fate. The work that I do is good work and it benefits both our races.”
“Oh.” Allie looked out the window, admiring the scenery. “I wish I could jump home, you know, tree to tree. I could put my books in a backpack and take off and be there in no time.”
Malcolm couldn’t stop himself from all-out laughter as he drove. “That sounds good in theory, but if you tried it out, you would be fired so fast your head would spin off its tiny little neck. It’s okay to dream about being free but make sure it stays a dream, for all our sakes.”
“Don’t worry about me, Malcolm, I will be the perfect employee. I love my job too much to screw it up. But I will dream and dream big.”
“Good, lass, good.”
Out the window, Allie spotted a small animal – a rodent, perhaps – scuttling quickly along the ground. She glanced up; a large bird circled overhead. She thought of Shelby and Stephanie and the boy that attacked her. “Hey, Malcolm, will Shelby forgive me?”
“She doesn’t have a choice in the matter.”
“Well that is not forgiveness then.”
“She is female. Forgiveness may not be in her vocabulary. Just apologize and stay clear of her like you have been told.”
“I will. I am thinking of what I will say right now.”
“You will have all day tomorrow to come up with the right words.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are off tomorrow so be sure to spend time with your folks so they don’t get suspicious or worry about you or your job. When you go to school, be ready to apologize like nobody’s business.”
Allie watched the road in silence. Tomorrow was Sunday, and she wanted to work all day.
“We’re here, lass. Have fun tomorrow. Be a kid while you can.”
The moon was rising as she got out of the car and walked into the house.
Chapter 18