4biting into my skin, ejecting its poison into my blood.
Youve been oversleeping.
"Youve been oversleeping, Kale. Arent you getting
enough rest these days?"
Silence. Footsteps, a door shuting, the click of a
bolt sliding into place. Slowly I take my blindfold
off, tying it to my wrist and sliding out of bed. The
tile floor is cold to my feet. Today the blinds on the
skylights are rose colored, bathing everything in a
relaxing deep pink. Slowly I stretch, and relax for a
moment in the tinted light.
Click, I turn my head toward the door, where a
nurse is standing. She gasps and quickly turns her head away,
put on your blindfold,
"Put on your blindfold, number three!"
I tie it behind my ears and she steers me towards
the showers. I cannot see them, but I hear them, the chittering,
chattering minds in the cells on the bottom floor, desperate and
angry below me. I block them from my mind as we walk. Our level
is strictly ordered, and sterile, and they make sure that our rooms
and living spaces are apropriately sheilded for our 'special' needs.
I think I am about thirteen, at this point.
A door slides shut, a bolt clicks, and I know I am in the
showering rooms. I take the blindfold off, tying it to my wrist.
Methodically I take off the white nightgown and put it in the basin
to be washed.
The tile is slightly warmer under my feet now, moist with the spray
of the showers. I pad softly and turn the corner, seeing the other Angels
move like mist through the spray. Number six turned to look at me, focusing
his white eyes on mine. Slowly all the others turned to look at me, their
eyes shimmering like diamonds under the faucets.
Good morning, Kale.
Good morning...the cells are pink today.
I took my place in the stall, feeling the hot water rush over my body
and wash away any trace dirt from last night. They kept us all very clean, with
showers three times a day. We all knew why.
Did you sleep better last night?
No. I feel so restless...
Well maybe tonight will be better, said Mai, the fifth Angel.
Why do you think? I say, sliding the soap over my shoulders.
Today we have a field trip.
Oh...they dont do that so much these days.
I looked around, trying to see number seven. She was the oldest
of us all, and her white hair reached down to the backs of her knees.
She had become quiet since a few months ago, and she never comes around
to talk with us. Shes let number six do all of the leader work since then.
Have you seen Andrea?
Yes, shes over there.
I turned slowly around, searching with my eyes. There was a stall
in the corner, dark and forbidding. I squinted, the faucet was on, but I
couldn't see anyone.
I dont see her.
Look again, shes there.
I turned back around again, narrowing my eyes. I couldnt see anyone
in the darkness. Suddenly a movement caught my eye. Holding the corner of
the stall was Andrea, her skin so white it was nearly translucent. She was
looking at me, her eyes slightly out of focus. Then as soon as she apeared,
she sank back into the darkness.
I frowned, turned around and went back to scrubbing myself.
They came for us after lunch. There was one man and one woman, both
in black uniforms. We had never seen them before, and they walked right into
the lunch-room without anyone telling us to put our blindfolds on. Slowly we
all turned to look at them.
The woman shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. We stared,
unblinking, waiting for them to do something. The man looked at his partner,
then at the floor. We all could hear the nurse running down the hall, and we
heard her yell "Angels, put your blindfolds on!"
At that moment we tugged them from our wrists and tied them behind our
heads, but we didnt stop looking at the strangers. The nurse came running in
and started to yell at the strangers, telling them never to go into a room where
the angels were without her permission first, and going on about how the military
thought they could do whatever they wanted with the Angels and how they abused the
services of the ward. This went on for at least a minute until she stopped and looked
at us. Instantly her demeanor changed, and she looked down at the floor.
"Angels, come with us please," she said meekly.
We all stood up and formed a double line. In front of me was number four,
Eva, and behind me was Mai. Next to me were the twins, number one, Kerin, and number
two, Kino. In front of them was number six, En.
Where is number seven?
Shes not coming.
Why not?
They said she needs rest.
Oh.
The ride there was very smooth, and the big, bulky van was very dark inside.
We didn't talk much on the way there. When they let us out we were inside a white room.
The millitary woman who saw us in the cafeteria brought us to another room, with a small
door in the corner. We were told to sit down and wait. Then she left the room.
On one wall was a mirror, and we could all see the people on the other side. Some
of them we recognized from previous visits from the millitary, others were new.
Whats going on?
We dont know.
What are they saying?
Theyre saying that not enough progress has been made.
Progress?
Why dont you listen for yourself, sister?
Its too early for that. Theyre still not ready for that kind of experience.
Theyre still kids, right? Kids are hardy. It might be unpleasant for a while, but
theyll adapt to the VR sims.
They might be kids, but theyre also the only ones that our guys could find. I dont
think mutations like these are going to pop up again soon.
Then give them something simple. Work with them on an individual basis. We decided
this already two weeks ago. Its out of our hands now.
They didn't say anything else, so I stopped listening. We sat on the floor, gazing
listlessly into the white walls. As Angels, we're accustomed to being bored, it's what makes
up most of our time. After a while a woman in white came in and took Kerin out with her. I
tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't answer.
Where did they take Kerin?
We don't know.
Don't you care?
Sister, what choice do we have?
I looked at the floor. Boredom had dulled our minds, I think. I looked over to Kino. I could
see that she was a little disturbed by Kerin's lack of communication. I didn't blame her. They
spent all their time together. Eva was asleep, leaning against Mai. Eva was tainted with a little
of the outside world, which I didn't know anything about. My world was the Silo, and the green
house, and now it encompassed this place. There was nothing else for me; but for Eva, she had the
mark of a place called "Jupiter Colonies", where she lived until she was three. I didn't know
anything about this place, but it was supposed to be very far away, farther by far than this
place is from the silo.
Mai was called "Chinese" before she came here. I don't think she's much older than me.
I don't know what makes Mai and I alike, besides our white hair and our white eyes and pale skin.
I know that Mai has always, since I came here, explained things to me if she knew something that
I didn't, but that was rare when a secret will be kept from all of us.
I felt Kino move towards me. I turned to look at her. What is it, Kino?
She lowered her eyes, a shadow beneath the blindfold.
Do you ever wonder why they take us away from each other? Or why we're here?
No, I replied. Why, do you?
Kerin and I do. I don't like this place.
I don't either. But what can we do?
I don't know, Kale.
At this time they took Kino in. I was hesitant; they would take me next. My brothers and
sisters simply lay or sat on the floor, bored but patient. When it was my turn the lady took be
to a large black reclining chair with machinery strapped to it.
"Please sit down." the woman said. I climbed into the chair. The leather was smooth and buttered,
softer than anything I'd ever felt. I sank into it, and I felt at least a little more relaxed. I couldn't
see the woman's face, it was bound with white cloth. She seemed strange as she leaned over me and attached
sticky beige circles of plastic to my chest and my forehead.
"Please remove your blindfold, number three."
The woman lowered something huge and black to my eyes. My pulse jumped.
"Please try to relax." There was something odd about this woman. I tried to search her mind, but all I
found was blankness, like an empty room. I didn't like this at all.
The black thing was curved, like a mirror or a bowl, and it was all I could see. Suddenly the black thing
lit up to white. It looked like a screen now, and in the center of it was a round circular ball.
i"What is your name, number three?"/i
"Kale." The ball onscreen began to rotate slowly.
i"What is your leader's number?"/i
"Number six" My eyes were fixed to the ball as it spun slowly in space. My mind felt numb.
i"What is the name of your leader?"/i
"En." The ball slowly spun into two balls. I was losing awareness of myself.
i"Do you feel the presence of your leader?"/i
"Yes."
i"Do you feel the presence of the rest of your brothers and sisters?"/i
"Yes." The two balls had multiplied into a swirling cube of balls.
i"Where is number seven?"/i
"Back at the silo."
i"Do you know this because of her presence?"/i
I paused, a faint realization forming in the back of my head. "No."
We were all ushered out of the dark van into the garage of the silo. The heavy, booted footsteps of our caretakers
echoed off the walls as we walked up the winding concrete passage to the first floor of our area. We did not make a sound.
One of our caretakers unlocked the door to our area. Once the door behind us was closed and locked, we were scanned,
the green laser running over our white skin. The heavily armored door swung open. We walked through, and were hit with the
lukewarm water and disinfectant spray.
Suddenly number six twitched.
En? What's wrong?
Our caretakers couldn't see us through the mist, so they hadn't seen En's action.
I heard something.
What was it?
I'm not sure.
The spray shut off, and the next door swung open wide. All at once, we covered our ears, crying. The sound was
high pitched, and it was like a drill peircing our ears. Our caretakers rushed foreward, shouting. We were hurried into
the level, the caretakers bristling.
What's that noise?!
Someone is screaming.
What's happening?
As we were huried down an emergency corridor, I caught a breif flash of red, spattering the walls of the hallway
we would have gone through. I stopped and stared, never having seen so much blood in my life. Quickly, I was pushed to move
along with the rest of the angels.