A Hole in Time

The Hole - Chapter 13 - One step at a time

Liam flips through the book, reading sentences every now and then. I pick up the second book and start to have a look. It is filled with diagrams, meaningless words and numbers. The numbers are intermixed with letters. I am just about to put the book down when I look at the symbols with the numbers. They are equations! I still have my ancestors mathematics books. I love mathematics, so I have been studying these in books for years. This is what used to be called Algebra. I look at the equations and I know I have to study these in detail. The letter said that this is the schematics of the time technology, so if I can c***k this equation, or figure out how to change it, or something, I will be able to fix the time holes.

I show these to Liam who, although he hates mathematics, agrees that this equation is what drives the time technology. "Gracie, do not you remember something that you said to me years and years ago? The answer is in the question. If the answer is in the question, take apart the equation." I throw my arms around Liam's neck and hold tight. "Lee, you are a genius. I just have to find out where the computer is. Then I can take the equation apart." 

Liam and I agree that we need to keep low so that the cameras do not detect anything unusual. We cannot risk getting caught on something minor and getting thrown Outside. We will never help anyone if we are Outside. Something catches my eye on the page Liam is reading. Something about keys. I grab the book and look carefully. "Lee, I was right. The three keys." Liam looks at me strangely and I realise that I never told him. "Did you see, and do you remember, that video of the family that was sent Outside? The heads of the three classes each had a key that they used to open the exit. Special keys. I looked at my history books, and there was nothing about the heads getting keys. The Designers were the ones that were supposed to have the keys to let us out. It is almost as if the Designers did come back, but someone stopped them. Now the keys are being used to distribute what is called justice. This book says that we will need the keys to get out."

"Okay, so we get the keys. One, where are they? Two, how do we get everyone to follow us? And Three, what are we going to find on the Outside?" I shake my head. "I do not know where they are, Lee. It would seem sensible that, because the heads of the classes had the keys, they still have them. I think that we need figure out how to heal the holes in time first, then worry about getting out of here." Liam agrees with me. We need to go one step at a time. My clothes and hair are dry now, so we start to head home.

We pack the books into our bags, I take the schematics book and Liam takes the other one. Our walk home is filled with whispered chatter. We now know where the microphones and cameras are, but you can never be too careful. The tree that signals our arrival to our street comes all too soon. We drop hands with a sigh and step apart. It feels strange to go through the motions of the Hierarchy's regulations after today. Finding out that the fate of every citizen in the Dome rests on our shoulders makes bowing respectfully seem pointless. We do it anyway, having agreed that we need to behave like normal to protect ourselves. 

I stand at the doorway, watching John and Scarlett, for a long time. I can tell that Liam and I were right. They are still microchipped, but they can decide whether to obey or not. I watch for long enough to see that every now and then their left temple, where the microchip is, jumps and they rub it. Soon after they do something like pick up their pencil. I go to the lounge room door and watch my parents for a time. They are reading reports. I can see their temples clearly, but unlike John and Scarlett, when my parents' temples jump, they do something immediately. I cannot watch them anymore without wanting to do something about it.

I walk up the stairs to my room, sit at my desk, and pull out the schematics book. I know that there are no cameras in my room and  my desk sits where the camera from John's room cannot see me. I reach into the draw of my desk and pull out a blank sheet of paper. I pick up a pencil and start to write notes about the schematics. I need to make sense of this if I am going to be any help. The first few pages are just equations and random words or phrases, like: Un-Synched; Small but large; and Cancelling. I cannot make sense of these yet, but I make a note of them, sure they will be important.

A few pages later, I am still working and my parents call me for dinner. I had not realised it had gotten so late. I close the book, putting the piece of paper in the page I was working on, and put it in my drawer. I walk downstairs, trying to be as robotic as I can. My brother makes it look so easy. Dinner is the same as usual. A plate of gray slump. Why do we have to eat food that is the same colour as our clothes? Healers wear gray clothes, eat gray food and live in gray houses. I resist the urge to look around. I know that the walls and ceilings are painted gray, the carpet is gray, the furniture is gray and the curtains are gray. The sheer lack of colour makes my eyes hurt after the beauty of the field. Why do we live like this? I have no idea, but one thing I do know is: Liam and I have to figure out how to heal the time holes before this colourless life suffocates me.