“Well, you just seemed so melancholy. I noticed your eyes beginning to tear up.”
I quickly reached my left hand up to wipe my left eye and then my right. “Oh, I merely…”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Deep-set mahogany eyes stared back at me with great concern. Her eyes radiated warmth and kindness. She reminded me of Gran.
“Well,” I wasn’t sure about how much to divulge, but maybe she could help me, “I’m sort of lost. I’m looking for a friend’s house and I can’t exactly remember where it is.”
“Did you search their name on the public database?”
And there it was. Something I was afraid of. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now how was I going to explain that I couldn’t access the public database because I’m a Land Dweller, not a citizen of Oceania?
A sympathetic smile crossed the woman’s face as smile lines replaced wrinkles of worry. “Ah, I don’t like those things very much anyway. It’s hard for me to see those screens with my eyes the way they are now. My daughter keeps telling me to get surgery on them, but I simply don’t trust those robotic surgeons. What is your friend’s name?”
I raised my downcast face as hope flooded into my eyes. “His name is Dr. Samuel Wilcox. I know he lives on the other side of the Central District, but I simply can’t remember exactly where.”
“Is he an engineer by chance?”
My eyes grew wider involuntarily. “Yes, he is.”
“Oh, yes, I know him. He’s quite the character, but he’s the Chief Engineering Inventor of the city.”
Before I knew it, lies were flying out of my mouth faster than I could comprehend them. “Yeah, he is. He’s a family friend of ours. He told me he was too busy to leave his home, so I should come over to his apartment to do the interview for my high school project. The expert’s input portion for my research paper is supposed to be completed this summer, so I was worried that if I didn’t do the interview when he had time, I wouldn’t get another chance.”
“No problem, dear.” The train car stopped as the woman spoke. “If you get off right here at this stop, you’ll need to go three blocks to the north,” she pointed directly behind her, “and then four blocks over to the east. His apartment building should be one from the corner. Good luck with your interview.”
“Thank you so much, ma’am. I really appreciate it.” I threw a quick smile at her and rushed out of the train car just as the doors began squeezing shut.
“Okay, three blocks north, four blocks east.” I continually repeated aloud so I wouldn’t forget it.
As the train left the stop, I trudged across the non-existent tracks and began my way north. Ignoring the commotion around me, I pressed on without caring if I was being watched. I only wanted to focus on how many of the three blocks north I had walked. Many of the apartment buildings were identical and I didn’t want to get lost because of lackadaisical attention. However, deep down, a small voice kept telling me that if the Master Coders had caught Dylan, perhaps I was in danger too. I had to stay focused, I couldn’t risk stopping to ask someone else directions. Luckily, the old woman was kind and uninterested in me personally.
The numbers of people around me thinned until I was the only one around, my footsteps echoing loudly as I hurried along. Finally, Dr. Wilcox’s apartment building came into view as I crossed onto the last block. Immediately, I descended the long staircase down to his workshop, but found the door closed and locked. Hesitantly, I headed back upstairs and through the main doors to the apartment building. The vacant reception hall was elaborately decorated with real paintings and plants instead of mere projections. A string of three elevators stood to the left of the reception desk along with a list of apartments. Tapping on the screen to make it come to life, I saw only one listed apartment—Dr. Samuel Wilcox, Apartment #2.
Noticing a hallway at the opposite end of the reception desk, I took it around a bend until I saw the apartment number two on the door. I rang the doorbell and chimes went off inside. A panel to the right side of the door opened up and a blank screen popped out with Dr. Wilcox’s voice emanating from the speaker right below it.
“Who is it? I’m very busy working on a very important new invention that could change the future of Oceania!”
I cleared my throat and apprehensively said, “Dr. Wilcox, it’s Allie, I’m Dylan’s friend.” When I heard no reply, I added, “The Land Dweller.”
The screen turned on and Dr. Wilcox’s face appeared. “Ah, Allie, come right on in.” A toothy grin and balding gray hair filled the screen.
After the door clicked unlocked, I yanked it open and began walking down the yellow-painted short hall toward what I assumed was the living room. Suddenly, Dr. Wilcox appeared inconspicuously from my left.
“Ah, Allie, over here. So, what brings you to my humble dwelling?”
“Dylan was caught by someone named Mrs. Miller and taken to the Master Coders. It seemed really serious. Because Dylan was my way out of here, I need help to return to the surface. Dylan told me to find you and you would be able to find me a way out of Oceania. If I’m not home before my grandmother starts to worry, she’ll call the police and we’ll have a big problem.”
Dr. Wilcox’s bushy eyebrows shot up as his eyes grew wide.
