The Other Shoe Drops

Later, safe at home (or so she hoped), Sedona sat in her lounge, cuddling her damaged kitty. Snuggles seemed happy and content, but Sedona was not. In fact, she was pretty upset. And she had a great deal of disturbing new information to think about.

Not least were her feelings about Indiga. He made her feel so warm and safe. Was she going to find herself in Merida’s position? Having a strong attachment to someone, then being forced to let go of him?

Unable to stand the tension any longer, Sedona jumped to her feet, tucking Snuggles into a squishy cushion, then heading off to Accra’s quarters. She hoped that Accra could give her some advice about Indiga. But when she arrived at Accra’s, she was waylaid by Accra’s other visitor, Tokyo, who was clearly relieved to see Sedona.

Tokyo came forward to give Sedona a hug, saying “I am so happy to see you’re all right.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Although my cat got injured, and I suspect someone has been in my apartment while I was away. But everything seems fine now.” Sedona was reassuring Tokyo, as much as herself.

“Sedona, you must be very careful in the next few days. Pariss believes troubles in the city may be building to a crisis. There could be huge problems ahead for us all if we can’t get on top of things.”

Far from being reassured, Sedona was now even more alarmed. “What is going on now that could be that bad?”

“I’m not completely sure myself. Pariss doesn’t want my neutrality to be compromised so he doesn’t give me any details. But he specifically asked me to get in touch with you, to tell you to watch your back. And he said to let you know that he has the orphans keeping an eye on you.”

“I just don’t understand any of this.” Sedona glanced at Accra in concern, her stomach was clenched and her hands beginning to shake. “Why should I feel so threatened? What is happening in the city? And how did things get this bad, so fast?”

Accra walked to Sedona and put her arm around her for support. Tokyo gave her a look of sympathy, then asked, “when you were at Pariss’ apartment, did you notice all the books in his office?”

Sedona nodded, too upset to say anything.

“Lately, he’s been reading a book about crime. The writer suggests that the way a city is built, it’s shape and layout, determines the type of crime that will flourish there.” *

Confused, Accra and Sedona looked at each other. What was Tokyo talking about? And where was this leading?

Tokyo, noticing their expressions, sighed. “Just think about it for a minute. Our city is completely contained. There is no way out except for the gates used only by scouts and roofers. So all the people who live inside are contained too, compressed in their own small spaces. And restricted from natural expression. Feelings, ideas, and emotion become repressed and are forced to hide in dark, secret places. And when you compress anything that tightly … eventually it responds with an explosion.”

Sedona mentioned, “I met with Indiga earlier and he said Pariss is concerned about the orphans. Do you know why?”

Tokyo hesitated; not sure it was right to add to Sedona’s worries. Then, taking a deep breath, “When the city was built, the geneticists decided to switch to InVitro births – it seemed easier to manage than natural births. And initially, the geneticists got the human engineering results they wanted. But now, we’re seeing what appears to be long-term harm. Especially since the gene pool in the city is now more limited.”

She continued with the ominous news. “One possible solution we’ve been looking at is to use some of the orphans’ DNA to improve our genetic choices. The population of our city has dropped off in recent generations so we now have the space to offer more orphans a place here. A plan to extend the orphan program is being considered by the council.”

As she listened to Tokyo, Sedona realized that all the Administrators favored bringing in more wastrels. And now the matter was in front of the entire council – did that mean Lundun was aware of these problems too? If so, why wasn’t he trying to work with everyone else? Could he be that belligerent and power-hungry? Didn’t he care?

Tokyo continued as she and Sedona walked to the door. “Pariss is certain some kind of explosive action is about to take place. We just don’t know what form it will take, which makes it almost impossible to make plans to avert disaster. So, I’ll repeat his message to you: Be observant. And watch your back!”