Chapter Twenty-Four #3
“There’s nothing else we can do. The prototype is behaving, the pamphlets are making their way to the staging areas, and I’ve been hearing my speech in my dreams for weeks. The horses and drivers will arrive at midnight. Best to rest before then.”
Ezra nudged Julian, coaxing him to stop checking the cable connections for the fifth time. “Sit down a while.”
Julian allowed Ezra to drag him to a mattress on the floor. “Should you really be gallivanting around the city today?” he asked Nikola.
“A carriage ride will clear my head,” she insisted, taking me by the elbow. Her expression shifted. “She ought to see more of the city, don’t you think?”
I didn’t understand what she meant, but Julian seemed to. He sighed and nodded, waving us off. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Nikola drove us in a two-wheel chaise, occasionally praising the pretty bay mare named Almond who seemed delighted to be out on the road.
I much preferred the open-air ride to the stuffy coach I’d shared with Julian and Ezra.
Across the bridge over the Sterling River, we whisked by storefronts and offices, the shape of the city changing as we approached the prosperous center.
In the distance, a handful of skyscrapers soared ten stories high.
Beyond them, I made out the shape of the House of Industry and looked away.
As we neared the exposition grounds, the streets became crowded with all manner of vehicles and people on foot. There was an unmistakable air of anticipation. And I’d never seen so many extravagant hats. Despite everything at stake, I felt buoyant. I felt like anything was possible.
“You seem like you know your way around,” I said to Nikola.
“I was obsessed with maps as a child.” She shouted at someone to make way, then turned back to me. “I memorized the whole of Sterling City by the time I was five. It took a bit of getting used to once I returned, but yes—I could navigate this city with my eyes closed.”
The Continental Exposition would take place across four buildings.
One was reserved for inventions of all kinds, one held historical exhibits, one was for art and performance, and the last was sponsored by the House.
We slowed to a stop as the road became too congested to make way.
Ahead of us, with a roundabout in front of it, stood the Hall of Radiance.
It was a perfect replica of the House of Industry, scaled to fit in the park alongside the river.
It looked like people were already lined up to get in tomorrow, eager to be the first to see displays of radiance and innovation.
Then I realized that the people on the steps in the front of the hall weren’t in line. They were holding signs and marching back and forth, shouting things I couldn’t hear over the bustle of the city street.
“What’s happening there?” I asked, leaning to get a better look.
“Resistors,” Nikola said proudly.
As we moved closer incrementally, I began to make out the signs.
STOP POISONING THE PEOPLE PROGRESS IS KILLING US
The next sign startled a gasp out of me. “‘The House is enslaving children,’” I read aloud. My throat went dry. “But they’re resistors. I thought they wanted to kill all of us … them.”
“You were made to believe that,” Nikola said, a hard look in her eyes. “There are some who would gladly see all Children of Industry eliminated. But most resistors want children with radiance freed. The same as you do. You’re not alone, Josephine.”
We circled the roundabout, getting close enough to hear the shouted chants, close enough to make eye contact with the people who hated the House as much as I did. I clasped my hands over my heart in gratitude, hoping that those who saw me understood.
Tomorrow, I promised them silently. Tomorrow we’ll show the House that they can’t control any of us anymore.
As we made our way back to the Far Bank, our chaise passed one of the smaller Missions that served the outer districts of Sterling City.
I’d worked there a handful of times, doing practical lessons.
For the first time, I noticed it was much newer than the buildings around it.
“They tore down homes to build that Mission, didn’t they? ” I asked Nikola.
“Most urban Missions were built in residential neighborhoods,” Nikola said. “It’s cheaper to tear down tenements than established businesses. Even easier when the residents can’t afford to fight it.”
“It’s going to take a long time to undo the harm the House has done.” My chest felt tight. “Is all this what you wanted me to see?”
“What you see is up to you.” Nikola urged Almond forward, squeezing our chaise into the space between two larger carriages to pull ahead. “All I want is for you to keep your eyes open.”
Looking at her strong profile, I realized that she and Ainsley would admire each other.
I felt an odd pang of homesickness for Frostbrook.
But I’d been wrong to think that home could be a city or a town or a Mission.
Home was this—existing in the world, eyes wide open.
“I will,” I promised, to Ainsley as much as Nikola. And most of all, to myself.