My concentration was shot for the entire day.
Distracted by thoughts of my strange head-trip this morning, I barely listened in my morning Environmental Science and Robotics classes.
At lunch I sat at my usual table with a group of my closest girlfriends. Everyone was behaving normally, but in light of the life-and-death things Heath/Milo had said in my dream, their conversation seemed so… inconsequential.
Ketta and Jolie were having an intense argument about which holographic AI boy band was the most talented.
“The Starfire Reapers all look exactly the same,” Ketta complained. “How are you supposed to pick your favorite guy?”
“Oh, like 2-Dimensional is so diverse?” Jolie quipped. “They only sing in four languages. Plus, the Reapers may look alike, but they’re all hot.”
Luz, who was the most musical of our group, said, “Everyone knows Infinity Glitch has the best music.”
Jolie laughed. “Yeah, if you’re listening with your ears instead of your eyes. I mean, come on… they’re blue.”
She looked around the table for support. “Am I right?”
“Some people like blue guys,” Luz muttered before taking a sip of her drink.
Then conversation turned to potential activities for our sleepover tonight at Ketta’s house.
“We should have a movie marathon,” Jolie said.
A tall, blue-eyed blonde, Jolie could have easily been an old-Hollywood starlet. I’d always thought she resembled the actress Margot Robbie who starred in a bunch of films in the early twenties.
“I have the complete Offworld collection,” she reminded us, obviously hopeful. “We could stay up all night and watch all of them.”
“We’ve watched those so many times,” Ketta objected.
Jolie pulled a pout. “Not so many times. Besides, they’re classics.”
“You just have a thing for Finn Ryder.” Luz batted her long eyelashes and made loud kissing sounds. With her short, choppy haircut and round wide eyes, she reminded me of a cute little owl.
“You know those movies were made in the 2030’s, right?” she said. “That dude’s as old as your dad by now.”
There was a chorus of disgusted ewwwwwwws around the table. “I’m with Ketta. I want to watch something new,” Luz said.
“We could watch the new season of Galactica Love. It drops tonight,” Jolie suggested.
“Do you ever think about leaving?” I blurted, causing everyone at the table to stop mid-conversation and stare at me.
“Leaving the planet? Like in Galactica Love?” Jolie asked.
“Leaving the base,” I clarified. “You know… going somewhere. Doing something instead of just watching it on the vids.”
“Where would we go?” Luz asked. “Atlanta?”
“Sure. Atlanta. Or other places. There are lots of other places out there you know. But we always stay here. We never leave. Why don’t we? We could just go, you know? See what’s out there?”
For a long moment my friends all stared at me. Then they burst into laughter.
“She’s kidding,” Ketta assured everyone. “Ooh, I know. We could play this game my mom picked up when she went antiquing. It’s called Magic 8 ball. You ask it questions and it tells you what you should do or what’s going to happen.”
Now that would be a useful tool. Although I’d decided my vision this morning was just that—a product of my overactive imagination—the things Heath had “told” me had stirred me up inside.
I felt restless, and I really did suddenly find it strange that my friends and I had never left the base for any reason.
After school, I walked Dingo then went up to my room to pack a bag for the sleepover.
I had some extra time before going over to Ketta’s house, so I went to my desk and pulled out my writing pad and electronic pen to write in my journal.
The desk sat facing a large window that looked out over our back yard. The tree I’d spent so much time climbing and playing in as a child was directly in my line of sight.
Each time I glanced up from my journal, my eyes landed on its wide trunk and inviting branches.
What if it wasn’t a hallucination?
Shut up. There’s nothing there.
After a few more minutes it became apparent I wasn’t going to be able to get anything accomplished until I went outside and checked.
I chastised myself for being an idiot with every step I took from our back door to the tree. Reaching the base of it, I grabbed one of the lower branches and hoisted myself up.
Stepping from branch to sturdy branch, I made my way to the comfortable cradle of its center, where I sat and rested a minute. This had been one of my favorite spots as a child. I’d hidden up here for hours reading and playing pretend.
Okay, Mireya, time to find out whether you’re still getting carried away by your imagination—or whether you’ve got real problems.
I stood in the y-shaped foothold and peeked into the hollow where I used to hide little treasures I’d found as a child as well as some of my most prized toys and the secret thoughts and desires I’d scribble on notes I never wanted anyone else to see.
There was something there.
A bag. My heart thudded and then galloped as I pulled it from the hole and felt the shifting of the objects inside. Fingers trembling, I undid the fastening and peered into the bag.
It’s real. This is from him. It actually happened.
Pulling out the contents, I examined each item Heath had left there for me—just as he’d promised.
A fresh supply of green pills—four bottles of them—a wrapped stack of cash, a small bag of assorted coins, and some small camping implements like a compass and waterproof matches and MRE’s.
There was a note.
Reya, if you’re reading this, I’m grateful and so relieved. It’s imperative you take action before my father and I return. You have to leave the base, and you have to leave alone.
If I know you, I’m sure you’ll worry about what will happen to your friends. I’m so sorry, but it’s not safe to try to take them with you. It’s not safe to even tell anyone you’re leaving.
Your foster parents don’t want any harm to come to you, but they’re firmly in league with my father, and they believe you’ll be safest in his care. If your friends know your plans and they talk, it could put not only you at risk but all the kids at the Haven as well.
I’ll continue advocating for your friends and classmates, but I can’t take chances with you. You have to get out—tomorrow morning.
These things should come in handy. I’ve given you a map I made to the Haven. If you can, memorize it and destroy the map to protect its location in the event that, God forbid, you are apprehended. I’ve arranged to get you to the park entrance in Virginia in a tech-stripped vehicle I rented from Syd. He’ll be driving you.
Now pay close attention, because here are the details of exactly where and when to meet him…
I looked up and away from the note, taking in the green leaves fluttering in the breeze around me. My heart was beating so fast, and my thoughts felt too scrambled to keep reading.
It was a surreal experience to be holding proof that things I’d believed I’d only imagined or dreamt about had actually happened.
These items, this note—they were confirmation that I could actually trust my visions. Because they weren’t visions.
They were memories. And they were real.
Forcing myself to calm down and concentrate, I turned back to the note. If I only had until tomorrow morning to prepare, I needed to get started.
Following the details of what time and where to meet my escape driver, Heath had added some further instructions.
Leave your holoconnect behind. They’ll try to use it to track you as soon as it’s discovered you’ve gone missing again. Don’t wear any tech clothing or jewelry. When you left the base before, you told me you’d raided a trunk of your grandma’s old analog clothes. If there are any left, that’s what you should be wearing when you leave.
And above all, do not come to find me or try to contact me in any way. Once you’re reported missing, I’ll be watched every second.
I’m so sorry you have to do this alone, Reya. But I know you can do it. You’re strong enough and smart enough. You’re remarkable, and I will be thinking about you and doing my best to protect you from afar… always.
Syd will let me know you got to the park. From there, you’ll make your way to the stream near our last campsite. It’s on the map, the place where you saw one of the Haven’s residents. Remember?
To my surprise, I did remember. A hazy image of a young guy with tan skin and dark, shoulder-length hair sprang to my mind. I was bathing in the icy stream… and he was watching me.
The recollection brought chill bumps to the surface of my skin.
If memory served correctly, the guy hadn’t looked exactly friendly. But what choice did I have?
He was bound to be more friendly to my cause than Dr. Rex—Apollo Gideon—who wanted to dissect and study me.
No, I couldn’t stay. No matter how challenging the escape and journey would be, I had to do it.
Now that I knew my memories of Heath were real, the smart thing to do was trust him and heed his warning. The only part of his instructions I balked at was his warning to go alone and tell no one.
If Gideon meant to recycle the other kids on the base at some point, how could I just leave them and save myself?
I understood what he was saying about the risk of telling people, but I just didn’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t at least try to convince my friends to come with me.
Since Syd would be coming to pick me up tomorrow morning, that left only tonight at the sleepover to convince them of three terrible truths.
One, we weren’t humans but genetically engineered beings, created by Gideon as experiments. As products.
Two, somewhere out there was a community of teenagers just like us, living free from medical experimentation and the constant lies of those who pretended to love us.
And three, if they didn’t believe my crazy story and come with me… they would die.
