I find myself a small utility closet. Light bulbs, electric brooms, and empty boxes lay scattered on the floor. Shelves lining the back wall contain toiletries, soaps, towels, and various scented lotions. I put my ear to the door and hear people walk by, announcements being made, and the low hiss of airbrakes of shuttles. I crack open the door and step out onto the bustling platform.
No one notices my sudden appearance as I walk with the flow of people who’ve exited one shuttle and are moving across the platform to another. I find a bench along the way and promptly sit down. Behind me the wall is paneled in glass, however the view behind it is a projection, not the real thing. Where I should see shrubs and desert, there is a lush landscape full of trees, glistening pools of water, and colorful birds flittering about.
The projected scenery is constant throughout the entire white metal structure. Wherever there’s a window, the image is of a continuous flow of greenery. I wonder if the windows on the shuttles are the same. Looking up at the ceiling I notice it’s as bright as the sun would be if it were out today.
The people walking by are in too much of a hurry to notice me. Many are smartly dressed in white linen suits, floral dresses, expensive furs, or blue uniforms with Regulator glasses hanging around their necks. Seeing the Regulators causes me to stand up and quickly rejoin the herd of people heading to the right. Halfway down the corridor I spot a large courtyard. I leave the pack and make my way to a large pool of water that is littered with coins of varying colors and sizes, some with the Tyre bull and others with the Acheron bird.
Large live palm trees line the square, jutting out from enclosed dirt mounds. The cities are creating a false outdoor setting to mask what the real world looks like, which makes me wonder what else they falsify to blind their people to reality. Sitting on the edge of the pool I pull out Rena’s map to see what my next task is. I notice a pair of older women approach the water with coins in hand ready to throw until they spot me. At first they seem frightened of me, perhaps disgusted by my appearance, as I obviously don’t belong there.
“Teenagers,” one of them mumbles, as she tosses her coin into the pool. The other woman follows suit, and they head back down the corridor.
Returning my gaze to Rena’s map, there is a circle indicated on the platform by the far end of the station. In small letters inside the circle is written Max. I walk to the other side of the courtyard to join the stream of people.
The corridor empties onto a large mezzanine full of shops, restaurants, and a brass door entrance to some condos that have For Sale signs next to empty nameplates. The smell of sweet-smelling pastries make me salivate and my stomach growl. I scan the restaurants to see if any of the staff have their names stitched onto their uniforms, but the outfits are too colorful to notice any identification.
I next move onto the shops that are loaded with expensive wares of varying size, color, and price. Glass baubles fill the windows, along with silk gowns and ornate jewelry.
How could anyone afford such things?
I feel completely out of my comfort zone in this area, but I need to find Max. I don’t see any more useful information so I crumple up the map, and shove it back into the satchel. Suddenly I feel myself being propelled forward, hands firmly pressed into my back, shoving me down the platform and into a women’s vanity room. I’m finally released after the door closes. Turning, I see a young girl behind me, finger to her lips indicating for me to stay quiet. She quickly moves from one stall to another, checking to see if anyone else is in here with us, then goes back to the door and locks it.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she yells at me. “Are you trying to draw attention to yourself or are you just that stupid?”
“You must be Max,” I say, my arms crossed over my chest.
“Rena sent you,” Max says, more as a statement than a question.
I nod my head.
For the next minute, the two of us stand and stare at each other, taking in the other’s appearance.
Max is a few inches shorter than me, choppy blond hair with purple streaks, and a few freckles crossing her nose. Her outfit is a pink and white striped smock covering a white dress shirt and dress pants. I’d spotted her restocking shelves in the candy store. She couldn’t be more than fifteen.
“I’m looking for Quin and Terrance,” I say, as the silence is beginning to bug me.
“They were supposed to meet me last night, but never showed up. You don’t think they got taken, do you?” Her question seems more like a plea, but I pretend I didn’t notice it.
“Do you still have the package for Rena?”
“Um…yeah.” She reaches into the pocket of her smock and pulls out a small brown bundle.
I put the package into the satchel and leave her to her tears.
Unnecessary emotion is not something I’m used to, or know how to deal with.
I go back to the utility closet. After removing the grate, I slide through the opening, replace the grate, retreat down the tunnel, and squeeze myself through the crack in the rocks only to find Quin’s truck and my motorbike gone, again.
I want to scream or blast something, but
