The Colony

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

Classes were held in a large, imposing building at the apex of the monorail’s track, before the train began the curving descent around the business district and back down to the residential homes. But when students of a particular year were scheduled to visit a working environment, we stayed on the train past the classroom and, instead, exited at the office building where our Teacher would meet us. So when the train left the platform in front of the classroom, twenty-six students remained behind, every one of them my age. They were paired with their Others, and many sat facing another pair of friends, the same way Brin and I sat opposite Kyer and Lyra.

Lyra stared out the window at the gray, steely waters beyond the edges of the Colony. From the monorail, the view of the ocean was expansive but dismal—white-capped waves were the same metallic shade as the cloud-covered sky above. We had learned of the sun and stars in class but no one I knew had ever seen them. Nothing but gray skies as far as the eye could see, giving the white buildings within the Colony a brilliance that made them seem to glow with life.

“I might want to be a Monitor,” she said suddenly.

I stared at her hand, still entwined with Kyer’s, and felt the knife of jealousy twist further into my gut.

“Oh, no, really?” Brin asked, wrinkling her nose. “They don’t really do anything, do they? I mean, just sit there and watch us all the time.”

“Not all the time,” I amended. When my friends looked at me, I explained, “When the screen’s off, they can’t see us, can they?”

“Can they?” Kyer asked.

It was on the tip of my tongue to say no, they can’t, because then someone would’ve known I crushed the blue pill under my foot and, so far, I didn’t think anyone knew.

Brin answered before I could. “No, I guess they can’t. We do have some privacy, after all. It’s in the Code.”

The Code, the laws by which the Colony lived. One whole section was devoted to screens and what activities we could expect from them. At some level, we were monitored at all times—our vitals, for instance; a rapid heartbeat or sudden fall would activate the screen to ensure we weren’t in need of medical assistance. But when the screens were blank, we could consider ourselves, for all intents and purposes, alone.

I had read the Code many times—each year in class, the first thing we did was review the sections pertaining to us—and, I had to admit, nowhere did it actually say anything about the screens being “turned off.” They were blank, like a closed eye, unseeing perhaps, but not asleep.

Across from me, Kyer moved one of his large feet and nudged my shoe with his. I pulled my leg back, a little too quickly. “I bet they watch us undress,” he teased.

The girls squealed, and Brin grabbed my arm tight. “Don’t say that! They can’t see when the screen’s blank, you know that’s how it works.”

“They’re watching anyway,” Kyer joked, grinning. He gave me a wink that sent a shiver down my spine. “They see everything. That’s why Lyra wants to be a Monitor.”

“It is not,” she groused. When he gave her hand a squeeze, she shook free from his grip. “You’re so disgusting sometimes. Grow up.”

Kyer laughed and draped an arm around her shoulders. “I have two more years before I have to do that.” He leaned over, nuzzling her neck. She squirmed away, but not before I saw a faint smile on her lips.

I closed my eyes and pictured Kyer undressing, those long legs of his unsheathed for once, exposing pale skin that would look tan alongside the bright white linen pants we all wore. Faint downy hair on his legs would shimmer in the light, and my own body reacted to his in a way I hadn’t felt before, not with him, not even with Brin. Clearing my throat, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and looked away from my friends, around the cabin, anywhere but at the pretty boy sitting across from me and those legs, those hands.

Lyra’s voice sounded far away when she asked, “Don’t you think it’d be fun, though? Being able to watch everything? Brin?”

“I want to work in the Birthing Center,” my Other said. “I like the babies.”

Kyer spoke up. “Why not the Eugenics Lab, then? You could make them from scratch.”

“I like them already born,” Brin explained. “They’re so much cuter after they come out of the test tubes.”

Kyer’s foot nudged mine again. “What about you, Aine? You know what you want to do yet?”

Go back to sleep, I thought. Dream of you again. Was there a position like that in the Colony?

Of course not. “I’m not sure yet,” I muttered, half to myself.

I felt Brin’s hand on mine. “He has two years to decide. You said it yourself. Do you know yet?”

“I’ll find something I like, I’m sure,” Kyer assured her.

I glanced up to find him staring, at me, and my stomach fluttered at his words. Rather, at the suggestion I thought I heard beneath them.

* * * *

As we neared the Monitor Center, the monorail slowed and I stood, eager to put some much-needed distance between myself and my friends. While I had enjoyed my dream the night before, it caused such an awkward tension between Kyer and me that I wanted to put it behind us. If getting back to where we’d been yesterday meant taking the pill this evening, I’d do it, dream or not. I didn’t like the way my body wanted to react to his nearness.

No, that wasn’t true. I loved the way he made me feel. For the first time in my life, my nerves sang out and brightened every aspect of the day, but it terrified me, too.

Did he feel it? Did Brin or Lyra? How could they not?

Suddenly the train stopped, and I stumbled forward against Kyer, who was still seated. I caught myself against his headrest, but overbalanced and dropped into his lap. Before I could stand, his arms snaked around my waist and Kyer rested his chin on my shoulder, grinning at Brin. “Ha! He’s my Other now.”

Though I felt safe there in his arms, I made a show of struggling free. “Let me up.”

Kyer hugged me tight, keeping me close. I wriggled as Brin laughed, and even Lyra rolled her eyes as she stepped around us. “He’s all yours, Aine.”

“I don’t want him,” I protested, but the words sounded hollow to my own ears. I do, I do, I thought, grinding my hips into his lap. I wanted the monorail to deposit all the others and leave just the two of us behind. Maybe then the hands on my waist could drop a little lower and touch me in places I hadn’t managed to dream about yet.

Playfully Kyer bit at the fabric of my tunic, tugging it in his teeth. “Hear that? I’m all yours.”

As Brin passed, she grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. “Sorry, Kyer. This one belongs to me.”

I snagged his hand and helped him stand, too. Brin led us down the aisle, holding my arm as I held onto Kyer. Lyra walked in front, shaking her head. “Boys,” she declared, to anyone who would listen. “We should get rid of them all and start our own Colony.”

With a laugh, I countered, “That wouldn’t last long.”

“Why not?” Brin shot back. “I’ve heard there are enough genes in storage to last several generations.”

Behind me, Kyer said, “Admit it, you’d be bored without us.”

Brin gave him a smile over her shoulder. “Oh, honey, you know we take pills for that.”