Chapter 2:

A Secret Meeting

Inversion


Snuggles the cat stood on the sleeping platform, little mouth wide open as he emitted a high-pitched yowling. Sedona rolled over, gathering his fluffy little body in her arms, and stroked his head to shut off the alarm feature. She spent a few minutes cuddling him before sliding off the cushions. Normally, she leapt out of bed in the morning, eager to see what the day brought. But today was starting off with a private meeting with her powerful mentor, Lundun. He put so much emphasis on this being a secret meeting that Sedona was tense. Secrets were not tolerated in the domed city.

Sedona showered and dressed quickly. She ate a light meal, then swallowed down all her morning meds. She never skipped this, knowing each set of meds was carefully customized for each resident. The city took care of its people. Hers were formulated to offset the stress on her body from the toxic zones outside the dome

Hesitating outside Tower One’s penthouse suite, Sedona took a deep breath, threw back her shoulders, then pressed her wrist implant to the door panel. It slid open silently and she stepped in.

“Hello my dear.” Lundun came forward and took her hands warmly, pulling her toward the seat next to his. In the background, orphan 34 hovered with a tray full of treats and drinks. At Lundun’s nod, she came forward, setting the tray down in front of Sedona. As 34 straightened back up, she briefly locked eyes with Sedona, shocking her with the expression in those eyes. There were bruises and shadows on her face and her eyes were filled with pain. Sedona was startled, could the orphan be ill? Sickness in the city was always cause for alarm – it could sweep through the residents, decimating the population, and the only solution was ruthless quarantine and in the worst cases, a purge.

“34,” Lundun snapped out, then cleared his throat to get Sedona’s attention as the orphan backed out of the room and closed the door.

“Try this, my dear, it’s delicious. The farmers send me samples of any new combinations they’re considering. Let me know what you think.”

Obediently, Sedona tried a bite of the food sample. It looked the same as the usual food the city provided, a small white cake of semi-soft sponginess. But the flavor was quite nice, it had a warm and spicy undertone, and she nodded her appreciation as she swallowed. Lundun poured her a drink, then leaned toward her intimately. His voice lowered, as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear.

“As you know, the city has a serious problem with the roofers,” he began.

Sedona frowned, “I’m confused sir, doesn’t that fall under the jurisdiction of one of the other administrators?”

Lundun glared at her. “Yes, it does, but they’re not doing their job, so it falls on me to solve this problem.” His voice was sharp, implying the other administrators were weak and sloppy. Sedona briefly wondered if there was more going on here than just a shortage of trained roofers. Her friend Merida always told her she was too innocent, which just made Sedona laugh. But now she asked herself … was there some kind of power struggle going on beneath the apparent calm of the city?

“I’m sorry sir, I just want to understand how I can be of help to you.”

Lundun nodded impatiently, then went on, “You heard me mention the possibility of using orphans to assist the roofers?”

Sedona nodded, remembering the shocked response to his proposal at the meeting.

“I’m not waiting for those weak-minded fools to agree with me. I have control of the scouts, so I’m going to go ahead and implement my plan right away. I'm ordering you to make a personal effort to find us candidates to train.”

Sedona was speechless at this. Lundun was the administrator for the scouts, so technically anything he commanded would be obeyed. But the mandate for the scouts was first and foremost to protect the city from approaching environmental issues and potential attacks from sub-humans.

Up till now, acquiring orphans was a rare event. If a worker outside the dome came across a wastrel child in the wilderness they were usually left alone to die naturally. Only If the child was young, and looked likely to survive, would they be brought into the city. They were defective with only limited intelligence, but could be trained for simple jobs. Less than human, the orphans had no names and were known only by their numeric designation. Now Lundun was proposing … what exactly was he proposing?

Lundun tapped his fingers on the table, as if he weren’t sure how to continue. “Sedona, you are my best scout.”

Sedona’s eyes opened wide at the obvious approval in his voice.

“I know you haven’t been on the job long, but your patrol results are excellent, and you’ve never failed to complete a mission. Not everyone can tolerate the conditions outside, let alone the confinement of the tox-suit. You obviously have special talents as a scout, which is why I’m counting on you to set an example for the rest of the patrols. And to keep this discussion today strictly secret.”

There was that word again. The word that made her feel so uneasy. Secret. Why was Lundun putting so much emphasis on that? Sedona put her discomfort aside so she could focus on his next words. 

"It's imperative that we get as many wastrels as possible into the city, to be trained as orphans, then assigned to the roofers."

"But sir, the roofers training, even at basic levels is hard. Won't rushing orphans through it put them at risk?" 

"Better them than fully trained roofers who are also citizens. Remember Sedona - the orphans are expendable. Without us taking them in, they'd die in the wasteland anyway."

Sedona felt like she'd been slapped and thought it best to stop questioning Lundun's directions. "How can I help you implement your plan, sir?"

"Stay alert for signs of sub-human activity. Find any potential wastrels you can and drag them into the city for training. This is your new priority." He stood up abruptly. The meeting was clearly over.

"Yes sir!" Sedona would do her best to comply with her patron's directive. And she would certainly keep her eyes open. She had an uneasy feeling there was more going on than what was right in front of her.


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