She grimaced at the photo on her case, taken in the hallway at school. The fluorescent lighting illuminated every oily pore on her face. She opened the case and slid the disc into the slit on the monitor. Bold letters flashed onto the large screen, and she backed up to get a better view.
ALINA
born: March 22 (DOE)
caretaker: Jade
What did DOE mean? Was it a code for the year? No one kept track of years in Pria, except in their minds. But the date puzzled her most. She celebrated her commencement on June tenth. March twenty-second was the day following the Day of Genesis.
She found the remote and swiped through the pages, then let out a startled cry. She glanced around the room. Is he watching me now?
She never knew her life had been so closely monitored. Hundreds of video links and pictures filled the screen. She smiled at a photo of Jade holding her, tickling her tummy and watching her laugh; then at six years old, grinning a toothless smile. Other pages showed her sitting in class at school and on outings, or sleeping in her bedroom, taken from the angle of her window. That one unsettled her.
Her disc even included a photo from the day before, when she ran to the school bathroom after the encounter with Eris, and then as she talked to Zaiden in the hall with puffy, red eyes. She cringed with humiliation.
She had to get moving, but couldn’t resist taking a peek at Jade’s disc. She slipped the disc into the monitor and as the first picture flashed across the screen, she gasped.
The woman bore no similarities to the one Alina lived with. Thick eyeliner and lipstick shaped Jade’s eyes and mouth. Twisted, kinky black hair fanned out around her face. She looked so much happier, even younger. The bold letters read:
JADE
commenced: August 5
caretakers: Marcos and Thea
caretaker to Alina; SD in occipital lobe
SD. Surveillance device?
Alina didn’t know a couple had raised her. How strange Jade never mentioned them before.
She seemed a happy child. Videos with her caretakers showed a handsome couple doting on her at parties, school activities, and celebrations. Hundreds of photos were taken with friends. Her appearance altered over the century of her life. Alina giggled at the stiff hair, heavy jewelry, skin-tight clothing, and other fads. Did she know this woman at all?
Then Alina reached a photo that made her jaw drop in disbelief. A dark-haired, handsome man had his arms wrapped around Jade, who looked more beautiful than Alina had ever seen.
But Jade doesn’t like men!
This one seemed different—rugged and flawed. Attractive, but not like men of Pria. One blue-green eye was slightly higher than the other. His teeth were faintly yellow, and his hair carried flecks of gray. She read the caption below the picture.
Jade with J’koby Yates—Enemy #1
Who was he?
Alina removed the disc from the monitor, put it in its case and set both back in their trays. She hunted through the discs for one that read J’koby but found no sequence to their order. She climbed the ladder and after skimming several rows, found another that caught her attention. Zaiden.
She had no time to search his disc now. She chewed her lip for a moment, hovering on the ladder, then snatched the case and scrambled down. She’d take it with her to Carthem to remember him.
A disc was nothing without a panel, however. Did they have them there? She scanned the room until her eyes settled on the remote underneath the monitor.
She picked up the small panel and examined it. The screen was small but contained a slit in the side for an info-disc. She unzipped the laboratory uniform and shoved the disc and panel into the bodice of her gown.
She pulled the visor over her eyes and had just touched the doorknob when a loud explosion echoed through the palace, shaking the walls. She froze as footsteps thundered down the hallway.
“Clever fink. He’s in the laboratories!” Brock shouted as he passed the door. “We’ve got him!”
Alina’s heart raced. What did Rex do?
She turned the knob, peeked into the hallway, and crept out. She pulled the paper from her pocket and unfolded it. Turn left, then right into a large foyer. Take the staircase up to Operations and Control.
She reached the foyer, but nearly cried out when she saw the staircase. It swirled in the center of the room, exposed, without walls or rails. She gritted her teeth and dashed for the staircase, crouching on her hands and knees as she climbed. She inspected the horizon as she came to the next floor, then scrambled up the last few steps and hurried to the hallway on the left.
She fought back tears. Rex was caught, she knew it. But what happened to Jade? Alina hadn’t lived a day without her, and now she must go to Carthem alone. Everything depended on her.
The paper shook in her hands as she reread the instructions. She snuck down the hall until she found the door with large, black letters.
OPERATIONS AND CONTROL
She exhaled and tapped the code into the lock-screen. It clicked, and she slid through the door. This hallway differed from the other areas of Gordian. It wasn’t grand and lofty but gleaming white. The floor, ceiling, doors, and walls were all the same sterile color.
Third door on the left. There might be guards. An alarm will sound. Find the dagger and use it before Sampson gets there.
She found the door and put her finger above the lock-screen, then paused. Something nagged at her. Sampson’s most valuable possession shouldn’t be this accessible. She heard no sounds behind the door and saw no sign of the guards. Entry seemed too easy. Maybe Rex had been misinformed.
She’d come this far and shouldn’t leave without being
