She hadn’t ever thought Amber and Bennett were cowards by any means, but she hadn’t expected them to step up to the plate so quickly.
Brynn did notice Amber shoot Hadlock a quick glance and had to wonder if her sudden interest in volunteering had something to do with the arrival of Hadlock in the group, though she didn’t say anything to that nature.
“Of course I’m in,” Jonah said, sounding a lot more excited than he probably should have been to walk into a complete death trap.
Brynn glanced over at him and he gave her a sly smile and quick wink that made her blush.
“We’ll start making arrangements then,” Rift said heavily. “And Brynn?” he asked, meeting her excited eyes with his weary ones, “Welcome to The Alliance.”
Chapter 17: Initiation
“Until you build a submarine, a car, and rewire a Worker train to do your bidding without their knowledge, you can’t call yourself a proper genius, that’s all I’m saying,” Rusty stated matter-of-factly to Tate in the dusty old living room where the group seemed to spend most of their time.
Over the course of their stay and in the days leading up to their trip back to Halcyon, Brynn had gotten to know most of the people in the house pretty well, with the exception of Rift and Dash. Rift was always gone trying to find new recruits to build their numbers, and Dash was constantly running messages back and forth to other groups who might be interested in joining The Alliance. He was also busy spying on Workers, and just generally being a good little spy.
A girl named Royter, with short black hair and dark eyes had introduced herself to Brynn and her friends briefly before she was gone again.
“She’s out being sneaky,” Tate informed them fondly, running his fingers through his long hair as he plopped down on a couch that instantly gave off little puffs of dust. “She’s our spy.”
“I thought Dash was your spy,” Amber said, confused.
“Dash had to learn it all somewhere, didn’t he?” Tate asked.
He was apparently a big fan of the mysterious girl who they’d barely been able to meet.
“We send Dash on the less dangerous jobs,” Cambria said from the doorway, carrying a small tray of food into the room for the group. “Royter goes on the more difficult missions because she’s…,” Cambria let her voice trail off, not the type of person to feel comfortable calling someone ‘better’ than someone else. “Older,” she finally finished decisively. “Here’s some dinner, by the way.”
The petite, pale girl brought the tray into the room and sat it on the small wooden coffee table that was, of course, covered in dust just like everything else in the dark and dreary house.
“Sorry it’s not much,” Cambria said self-consciously, knowing that they were used to eating much more with their endless supply of food on Halcyon.
“We normally don’t eat much, but this is just ridiculous,” Tate said. “What happened, Cam?”
“We’ve had a lot of people leave The Alliance,” she explained quietly, her voice barely above a whisper and her eyes downcast. “They either got scared when they found out we’d be going to Halcyon, or they got tired of waiting. Now we don’t have as many people to put in hours of work for food.”
“What about all the food Rusty brought back from Halcyon?” Brynn asked, knowing first-hand that she had stuffed her bag to bursting with various food items.
“We have to ration that,” Rusty said seriously. “For this very reason.”
“Is The Alliance only made up of the people in this house? Or are there more of you?” Jonah asked from his spot beside Brynn.
“There were more of us,” said an all too familiar unpleasant voice from the hall. Devey entered the room on silent feet, padding over to the pathetic tray of food and sniffing at it. “Then everyone decided that they cared more about themselves than saving the world, so now we have to do it for them.”
“And I can tell that you’re just thrilled by that prospect,” Amber said sarcastically, never quite meshing with the unhappy girl.
“Don’t talk to me,” Devey responded simply, taking an apple from the tray and retreating back upstairs once more.
“Sorry about her,” Cambria said apologetically, following her sister up the stairs quickly.
“How are they the same person?” Amber asked. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand that.”
“Twins just look the same,” Rusty informed them as she bit into one of the rolls she’d brought from Halcyon. It was now so stale that it crumbled into little pieces on the couch around her but she continued to eat as if she didn’t care. Apparently any food was good food to her. “They don’t have the same personalities or anything.”
“That’s for sure,” Ty said with a small laugh just as a loud boom came from Hadlock’s room upstairs.
“What was that?” Brynn asked in shock.
“Oh Hadlock is just working on something. Don’t pay any attention to him,” Rusty answered with a wave of her hand, her mouth full of the dry bread.
A door slammed upstairs and suddenly Devey and Hadlock were stomping down the staircase shouting at each other.
“If you’re going to share a wall with me you’d better stop those stupid experiments!” she yelled at him. “It’s not like they’re getting you anywhere as it is.”
“You don’t even know what I do all day, how can you say I’m not making anything valuable?” he asked incredulously, walking into the living room to grab one of the remaining rolls. “What do you do all day? Talk about how bitterly unfair your life is? Poor baby,” he said harshly.
Devey was fuming now, her eyes burning a hole through Hadlock’s head as she opened her mouth to retaliate.
“Hey!” Rusty shouted over the din, effectively shutting them up for a moment. “We haven’t put our new guests through initiation yet.”
Brynn wasn’t quite sure what that was supposed to mean, but the fact that it instantly stopped the argument and brought a smile to Devey’s face for the first time since they’d met her, frightened Brynn to no end.
“Finally, we get to have some fun,” Devey exclaimed much too happily, clapping her small hands and grinning wickedly at Brynn.
The landscape on Panurgic was vastly different from the one on Halcyon. For all of the flaws of the continent’s social structure, Brynn couldn’t deny the beauty she saw all around them.
There wasn’t a brown patch to be found in the lush green rolling hills. The constant fog that hung thickly in the air clung to their clothes in damp layers, making the group shiver as they walked closer and closer to the sea.
The smell of salt permeated the air and the wind began to gradually pick up as they neared the edge of a sheer rock cliff. The grass never really ended, it simply ran out of room to grow at the rocky outcropping that protruded over the crashing waves far below. A few trees dotted the land, but the most bizarre thing they noticed, was one lone tree that grew right at the edge of the cliff, completely horizontal as its thick roots clung to the rock face.
“That,” Devey said happily, “Is your initiation.”
“Devey, Rift is going to kill us if we make them do it,” Cambria said timidly. She hadn’t stopped looking around nervously or picking at her fingers since they’d left the boarding house and now, Brynn knew why. “He told us we weren’t allowed to do this anymore.”
“Then don’t tell him,” Devey shot at her sister coldly.
“He said we shouldn’t waste the lives of people who are actually willing to help us,” her sister persisted, not willing to back down.
“Fine,” Rusty said with a roll of her eyes, obviously upset that her fun was being taken away. “They don’t have to do it if they want into The Alliance.”
“They just have to do it if they want our respect,” Hadlock finished with a grin.
“I don’t want your respect,” Bennett immediately said, stepping to the back of the group quickly.
“I kind of figured,” Devey remarked.
“Have you all done t
his?” Brynn asked, feeling an odd rush of excitement at the prospect of doing something so reckless.
She had spent weeks feeling weak for her fear of Eris, out of control of her own body because of her mysterious headaches, and completely useless because she hadn’t gone back to A1 to finish what she started.
Now, standing on the sheer cliff with the ocean far below them, she knew she wanted to do something to get her old adventuring spirit back in working order. It felt just like the time she’d stood at the edge of the sandy beach in Seaside, about to immerse herself in the icy water.
“It’s not that hard,” Devey answered with a sigh. “All you have to do is walk out on the trunk and touch the first tree branch.”
Not wasting any time, the small wisp of a girl walked slowly over to the trunk, placing one foot in front of the other on the narrow strip of wood. Her weight barely registered on the tree as she continued until reaching out with one small arm to touch the first branch.
Turning around carefully she practically sprinted back before jumping onto the ledge once more.
“Easy,” she said proudly, her cheeks flushed with adrenaline.
“I hate it when you do that,” Cambria said under her breath, her arms red where she had been grasping them nervously.
“Who’s next?” Devey challenged.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ty said to Brynn, reading her mind far before she had made any move to walk out onto the tree.
She knew there was no use in arguing with him, so instead she ran over to the ledge and placed one foot on the horizontal tree trunk carefully before gingerly setting the other foot on the narrow strip of wood, allowing her whole weight to rest on it.
The tree groaned slightly as she shuffled forward with Ty yelling at her to come back. Wind whipped her long dark hair around her face and she stretched her arms straight out at her sides to keep her balance. She felt like she was flying. The open ocean stretched on forever in front of her, and underneath her was nothing but air and a small tree trunk to keep her from falling.
Brynn tried not to look down at the tumultuous ocean far below her feet, knowing it would throw her off balance. Instead she kept her eyes trained on the tree branch that was just within reach. She stretched her arm out as far as it would go, barely grazing the rough wood with her fingertips.
“Okay, you touched it Brynn,” Ty said, slightly hysterical. “Now come back.”
“Be careful when you’re turning around,” Jonah insisted, sounding much more like Ty than himself with the worry that had suddenly come into his voice.
Had Jonah not said anything, Brynn would have felt completely safe, knowing that others before her had done this. Now, hearing her friend who wasn’t supposed to be scared of anything with fear in his voice, her confidence left her.
If Jonah thought something was too dangerous, it definitely was.
“How do I turn around?” she called over her shoulder, noticing for the first time how slippery the hard soles of her boots were.
Her ankles began to wobble as she tried to slowly pivot, praying she wouldn’t get one of her dizzy spells as she walked back to the cliff.
Placing one foot in front of the other carefully, she inched along the trunk, keeping her eyes locked on Jonah. His black hair that had gotten shaggier since their trip began, was flying into his blue eyes, but he never once blinked. He kept his wide-eyed look of panic locked on Brynn, urging her to get back to him safely.
“Brynn,” he whispered simply as her foot slipped and fell through the open air.
It didn’t seem humanly possible how fast Jonah slid on his knees to the edge of the cliff and grabbed her by the wrist, his free hand holding the tree trunk tightly.
“Brynn!” Amber shouted as she and her friends rushed forward to the edge of the cliff.
Even Devey looked concerned as she peeked over her sister’s shoulder.
The feeling of nothing but open air under her feet was a thrilling one, but even in her current state of adrenaline filled bliss, she couldn’t deny the sheer terror she was feeling, swinging from the ledge like a pendulum in a clock.
Jonah’s vice-like grip hurt Brynn but she wasn’t about to complain as he pulled her back up onto the soft, safe grass. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his face in her neck, acting more protective than Brynn had ever seen him.
He didn’t let her go as he looked over the group with a serious expression and simply said, “We’re done.”
Chapter 18: Sanctuary
With her eyes closed and her head resting against a soft pillow, Brynn had a feeling she hadn’t possessed in a long time; she felt relaxed. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or awake, but at that moment it didn’t matter. She didn’t feel the normal panic that usually controlled her every waking moment (or her moments asleep for that matter).
Embracing the brief reprieve from the norm, she took a deep breath, letting a smile play on her lips in the semi darkness of wherever she was. It wasn’t until she heard someone take a deep breath next to her that her eyes snapped open, suddenly aware that she wasn’t as alone as she thought.
The white ceiling and walls that surrounded her were enough to inform her that she was back in A1, though the dim lighting suggested that she wasn’t about to be tortured by Eris for no reason in particular.
Turning her head lazily to the side she saw Maxwell lying next to her, his eyes closed and a smile playing on his lips. He wore the ever present white lab coat that Brynn had come to recognize and his thick black glasses still rested on the bridge of his straight nose, but he looked completely at ease.
Lying next to him made Brynn wonder just how close Rachel and Maxwell had been, though her current situation seemed innocent enough.
“Isn’t it great that instead of staying home and getting normal jobs where we get to leave work, we opted to come on this mission so that we never really get away from our responsibilities?” Maxwell asked sarcastically, his eyes still closed and his smile still present.
“What? You don’t think it’s nice constantly being reminded that we have a job to do?” Brynn found herself asking, though she had absolutely no control over what Rachel said.
“One day off, that’s really all I ask,” Maxwell answered.
“Well,” Rachel began, propping herself up on one elbow and turning to face Maxwell.
She still wore her own white lab coat and Brynn wondered fleetingly if there were any sugar cubes in her pockets.
“We could always say we need to do a little research amongst the natives and go to our place,” Rachel suggested with a slow smile, leaning over Maxwell and letting her nose touch his.
The gesture was far too intimate for Brynn to be comfortable, though she couldn’t ignore the warm feeling in her belly that it brought on.
“Our place,” he repeated, his eyes still closed as he breathed in slowly. “If only we really did have a place where she couldn’t find us.”
“She doesn’t know about it, Maxwell,” Rachel said, lying down once more and resting her hands lightly on her stomach.
She stared up at the ceiling, counting the tiles above her head and waiting for the boy beside her to respond.
“We don’t think she knows about it,” he corrected her.
“Trust me, she doesn’t,” Rachel answered resolutely.
“I miss the yellow plants,” Maxwell said suddenly, quite out of the blue.
“And the smell of the ocean.”
“And not worrying about psychotic A.I.s who want to ruin our lives.”
“Yeah, there is that,” Rachel agreed with a laugh.
A real laugh.
It felt like the first time Brynn had ever heard Rachel laughing or joking. It was a nice change from her usual nightmares and suddenly, she didn’t want to wake up. It was amazing to her that normal people were lucky enough to experience normal dreams every night; that other people didn’t dread going to bed, and just for one moment, Brynn joined their ranks, feeling like she
never wanted to wake up from this memory.
“Why did you pick Arcadian?” Maxwell asked her, piquing Brynn’s interest.
She hadn’t heard much about the third continent and wondered if she’d ever see it. Hearing Maxwell mention it now was an unexpected surprise for her.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“Why did you pick Arcadian for our little place? Why not Panurgic?”
“Oh, I see what this is,” Rachel teased. “You’re offended that I picked someone else’s continent design over yours.”
“I’m not offended,” Maxwell mumbled, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.
“Jealous, then?” Rachel asked, bringing her hand to his face and running her thumb lightly over his lips.
His ghost of a smile turned into a full blown grin at this gesture as he opened his eyes to look over at her.
“Maybe,” he answered neutrally.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the whole Irish feel of Panurgic,” Rachel began, “But Arcadian looks like Iowa and Seattle had a baby and made the perfect rural, forested, coastal area.”
“I don’t think a rural, forested, costal area is a real thing,” Maxwell said, laughing softly.
“You’ve been there,” Rachel countered. “You know it is.”
“I think our place could be in the middle of the desert and I’d still love it,” he told her, turning his head and giving her a light kiss.
Brynn felt slightly embarrassed to be reliving this particular memory of Rachel’s. It seemed much too intimate for her, like something private that she shouldn’t be witnessing. But she supposed it was important for her to understand every aspect of Rachel’s life if she was ever going to try to figure out the last thing Rachel had left behind to sabotage Eris. And hearing that she had some sort of house or hiding place on Arcadian where information might be stored was definitely the kind of thing that would earn her the respect of The Alliance.
“You’re sure Eris doesn’t know?” Maxwell asked again as the walls began to melt away around Brynn, much to her dismay.