Chapter 12:

Life As a Pawn

Inversion


Sedona spent two restless days on R & R. She felt fine, wasn’t even tired. In fact, she felt so good it was like she had never even been injured. But she was bored!

The first thing she did after leaving the clinic was go home to her cat. Snuggles was clearly upset by Sedona’s absence. It was difficult for Sedona to walk around the apartment since the cat kept winding around her ankles and mewing pathetically. He wanted to be picked up constantly.

She finally got the cat calmed down enough to be able to slip off to the museum and claim her hero’s reward. She spent a long time in the museum’s storerooms, looking at the paintings she could sign out. She settled on the one picture she kept coming back to: A big tree standing alone in a field.

Sedona didn’t know what kind of tree it was. The painting’s title gave her no clues. She could see only a little detail of the leaves, but it was enough to know it wasn’t a Linden tree. “Wait a minute,” said Sedona to herself. “How could I know it’s not a Linden tree?” She searched her memories and couldn’t find anything there that matched what she knew – Linden trees had rounded leaves with a little point at the end – almost like a heart shape.

Finally, she just shrugged off the odd feeling and happily took her trophy home. She and Snuggles spend the rest of the day moving the two landscapes from wall to wall, trying to find the best place. Finally, Sedona put a painting on two opposite walls. Sitting on cushions and turning her head from side to side, she see each of them and could almost convince herself she was outside, walking on the lush, healthy, beautiful earth.

On her second day home, she met Merida outside the apartment. They ate lunch together while watching a game taking place in the square. Sedona was not a huge fan of ball games. But they were popular with residents of the city and several different kinds were played. There was always one or two going on in the squares, and it was a good spot to meet friends.

Her attention strayed from the fast-moving balls. Sedona idly looked over the groups of people watching the game. To her surprise, she realized everyone looked like everyone else. She squinted her eyes, blurring her vision, and looked over the clusters of people again. Everyone was so similar! Her eyes popped open with concern. Aside from her own distinctive eyes and the copper burnish of Merida’s hair, the two of them could be interchanged with any of the others in the square.

What a creepy thought! She forced herself to turn back to the game. After Merida left, Sedona headed back to Tower One. She had been dreading this appointment with Lundun and wasn’t sure why. Something in the off-handed, too-casual way he asked for the meeting made her senses tingle. She wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

As the lift brought her up to his suite of rooms on the top floor, the door opened and orphan 34 came out into the hallway. The orphan rushed past her while keeping her face turned away from Sedona. But before she could wonder what was going on, Lundun came forward to meet her.

He led her into the lounge area and sat down facing her. He lowered his voice, suggesting he wanted this kept confidential. (Of course.) He began explaining his concerns. Leaning closer, he told Sedona he was afraid that Tokyo, the Third administrator, was being influenced and coerced by the Second Administrator, Pariss. It became clear as Lundun continued speaking, that he truly hated Pariss!

Sedona was alarmed. Anyone in the city exhibiting strong emotion was cause for worry. If it became obvious to the general public, steps could be taken to manage the offending citizen. And now here was Lundun…

Lundun must have noticed Sedona’s expression. He sat up straight in the chair, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath in an obvious effort to calm himself. Finally, he spoke again. He had a new special task for Sedona. He wanted her to befriend some of the people in Parris’s faction.

At her gasp of surprise, Lundun explained further. “Sedona, you’re my most trusted protégé. I really need you to get on Parris’s good side and try to infiltrate his administrative team. I really must know exactly what he’s up to.”

“I don’t know sir, I don’t like putting myself forward like this, I just want to do my job.” Sedona never liked standing out - her strange eyes were bad enough, but she still remembered the taunts she endured throughout her childhood.

“I AM your job!” Lundun snapped, “Your job is to obey me! Loyalty is the only thing that counts.”

Sedona looked up at him. She thought of all the guidance he had given her, and how wonderful it was when Lundun chose her out of the whole graduation class for personal attention. She owed him her loyalty. Didn’t she? She did want to support her patron! So, she nodded her agreement.

As she stood to leave, Lundun handed her a list of names to study. “These are some of Pariss’s followers. Get to know them and see if there are any you can get close to.”

Sedona looked down at the list, seeing some names of people she already knew. Now she was conflicted again; she did not want to use people!

Lundun must have sensed her reluctance. “Remember Sedona, I am a master chess player. He hesitated. “I’m guessing that right now, you must feel like you’re just a pawn.”

Sedona looked up guiltily. Yes. That was exactly how she felt.

Lundun continued. “Just keep in mind that chess players don’t like to waste their pawns.”

Sedona nodded again and turned to leave. She wondered if Lundun’s last remark was supposed to make her feel better. Well, it didn’t!

She was going to be so relieved to go back to her real job in the morning. It would give her a few days before she’d have to do anything about Lundun’s secret project.

Despite her concerns, Sedona slept well. Except for a few odd dreams where she found herself walking through the landscapes of her two paintings. 

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