Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
It would be generous to say that I managed to sleep a solid hour that night. I drifted off at some point, but deep sleep evaded me, somewhere just out of reach. So, the next morning I stumbled around in my bathroom, splashing myself with cold water and praying somehow I would survive this.
Whatever this even was.
“Hey,” I said as I reached her. I wrapped my arms around her, needing to feel her warmth and solidness in that moment. Although she looked incredibly pale.
“Seems like we’re finally gonna get permission to talk about what’s happening to us, if we’re going out together on an excursion,” she murmured, and I nodded. Assuming they kept us together.
We reached the bridge promptly at 7:00 and found a small, silver aircraft already waiting for us. A blue-uniformed pilot I didn’t recognize ushered us inside and then lifted us toward the main island. I stared out the window, trying to combat the motion sickness which threatened to consume me.
The small pod continued to rise, until I realized we were headed directly for Founders’ Fortress. As airsick as I felt, I couldn’t help but marvel again at the structure as we neared it—this time from a much closer and more spectacular angle than I had seen before.
“We’re headed for that turret,” Jessie suddenly said. “Look, there.”
I gazed toward where she pointed. Indeed, we were headed for what appeared to be a landing pad on one of the turret’s flat roofs. It was the Springs’ turret. I saw the familiar figure of Anna step out onto the platform, her brother following closely behind her. They both wore crisp blue uniforms.
The aircraft descended and our glass enclosure hissed open.
“Morning!” Anna said brightly.
I didn’t even attempt to return her cheer as I climbed unsteadily out of the aircraft. My knees buckled slightly when they hit the solid ground, and I gripped the edge of the aircraft to steady myself.
“Oh dear,” Anna said, glancing me over. “Doesn’t look like you slept well last night.”
Doesn’t it, now?
“But, luckily, we brought you both a booster.” Anna reached into a backpack that hung from her left arm and pulled out two metallic flasks. “These are for you,” she said. She unscrewed the lids one by one and handed them to Jessie and me.
I took a tentative sniff and inhaled what appeared to be a thick, sweet substance.
I took a mouthful, swishing the thick warm liquid in my mouth before swallowing it with a grimace.
It was sickly sweet. But a moment later, I felt an unexpected surge of energy.
My eyelids suddenly felt less heavy, my eyesight sharper…
if that was really possible from a drink?
I looked at Jessie, who seemed to have a similar experience; her stance seemed suddenly stronger, her eyes brighter.
“We’ll be traveling in this aircraft,” Anna announced, nodding toward the pod Jessie and I had just stepped out of. “And look, the others are also preparing.”
I looked at her in confusion and she pointed skyward.
Identical aircraft to ours descended toward each of the other twelve turrets.
More blue-uniformed figures were stepping out onto the platforms, looking up expectantly at the sky.
They had to be greeting their mentees, I realized.
They had to be part of the families who owned the other turrets.
The other twelve, most prominent Founder families of Fairwell. The elite of the entire island.
I hadn’t realized all of them would participate in this.
As if reading my thoughts, Anna pointed to each of the turrets and named them as she went: “Fraser, Wolrick, Swallow, Dankworth, Fernsby, Lexford, Grantham, Calloway, Earnston. Then, of course, there’s the ‘C-Suite’ in the center: Willoughby, Burchard, and Haas.
As you know, we take outreach seriously at Fairwell, and there are members of every family involved in the department. ”
“Plus, this is not just about outreach,” Gerard added. “It’s about leadership training, too—for us, and for you.”
“For founders of the future,” I muttered, thinking of the induction course’s name.
“Exactly!” Anna said. “The two go hand in hand. And remember what I told you? A great leader is known by how well they can replicate themself.”
“And we’re all going out together?” Jessie asked, her amber eyes transfixed on the massive towers that surrounded us. It seemed this was the first time she’d come up to the fortress; her earlier meetings with Gerard had been on the island’s lower levels.
“Yup,” Gerard replied with a genial smile.
“So, we’ll all be in the same place?” I wondered.
“We’ll tell you more on the way,” Gerard said.
Perhaps noting Jessie’s dissatisfied expression, he added, “In real life scenarios, one doesn’t know what to expect upfront, and obviously we want to simulate that for any training as much as possible…
Remember, this is all about helping people.
We should never lose sight of the goal.”
“Right,” I murmured, chugging down another gulp of the sickly-sweet liquid.
But was it really? I sure hoped so, because I wanted to think my efforts—the work that I spent almost every productive minute of my life doing here—were worth something more than imaginary coins deposited into my electronic ring.
I wanted to think my efforts had a tangible, positive effect on the world, in some way.
Back home, the results of our actions were clear to see: we sowed seeds and watched them grow. We reinforced our roofs and kept out the rain. We prepared medicines and cured our sick.
It felt like we couldn’t do any of that here; that I had no direct control of anything around me, and all I could do was follow a path chalked out by someone else. Follow their rigid set of rules for how my life should be.
Then again, maybe I never had control of anything, and it had just been an illusion that I had. After all, it had all been swiped from us so brutally and quickly.
“That’s the Burchards’ tower.” Anna drew my attention back to her. She pointed to one of the inner three turrets, where a tall, lithe, dark-haired man appeared to be briefing a thick-set, brown-haired male whose back was turned to us.
For a moment my heart went to my throat, as the latter man suddenly made me think of Robert.
But then I looked more closely and realized he was too short for my friend, his brown hair several shades too light.
The profile of his face when he turned to one side revealed features that didn’t belong to anyone I recognized.
Still, it made me instantly fear that others from our group might have been chosen. “Nobody else has talked to you about this, right?” I asked Jessie under my breath.
“No,” she said, her eyes also darting about, clearly getting the same idea as me.
I hoped nobody from our immediate families, at least, had been chosen.
As much as it could increase their earnings, I didn’t think my nerves could handle worrying about more of my loved ones.
I was still knotted up about my parents, uncertain about their progress since I hadn’t yet received an update from their new hospital.
And my sister was still living with a stranger.
My uncle had managed to move up to slightly higher paying jobs, but he was older, so I doubted he would have been a prime pick, given that it appeared peak physical condition was favored for outreach.
Nico had also moved up to higher paying jobs, but perhaps he hadn’t accepted as many as he’d wanted, since Zina had started to succumb to morning sickness.
I tried to scan for any other familiar faces, but due to the distance separating us from the other turrets, couldn’t make out anyone else’s features clearly enough to determine the truth.
It looked like we’d find out soon enough.
“Time to head off!” Anna said. She nodded toward the open cockpit.