six

"How are you doing," Donna asked Sana from her treadmill in the Exercise Emporium.

"Oh, I'm fine," answered Sana from the treadmill next to Donna's. She knew Donna suspected she was pregnant. But she wasn't showing yet and she wasn't telling. She had made sure she was seen getting feminine pads from the Women's Hygiene store. She just tossed them under the bathroom sink knowing she wasn't going to need them for a while.

"You were pretty sick there for a while," mentioned Donna.

"Yeah," responded Sana, "I think it was just stress. I guess I've kind of accepted the situation. Romero and I have searched every store at least twice."

"What will you do when he's gone," asked Donna.

"What," asked Sana wide eyed. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I'm sorry," Donna apologized, "I'm not trying to upset you. But he's had a name about the length of time most of them do before they disappear, that's all. I know you really care for him. And it's obvious he really cares for you. But you need to be realistic, don't you? And well, Kevin's a good man. He's quite fond of you."

Sana turned off her treadmill and stepped off, "He won't leave me."

Donna hopped off her treadmill and went after Sana, "Sana, Sana... I'm sorry. I'm not trying to upset you. I'm just afraid you're not being realistic. I don't think he'ld leave you willingly, but he might not have a choice.

Sana pulled away from Donna as her eyes welled up with tears. "He loves me. He won't leave me."

"Sana," Donna said in a motherly tone.

"No," Sana snipped at her, "leave me alone."

Sana went looking for Romero who was helping Kevin move furniture. She walked by the pyramid of furniture that went up to the skylight. It hadn't worked. The glass was thick and unbreakable and set in place too securely. They didn't have the tools necessary for removing a piece. Tony and Gina basically pretended that the other didn't exist now. Tony spent most of his time with an exotic looking redhead. While Gina spent her time with a guy who had recently gotten his name and was no longer an attendant.

"What's wrong," Romero asked as Sana stepped up to him in tears.

Sana didn't answer. She just wrapped her arms around him and pressed her ear to his chest to hear the comforting sound of his heart beating.

Romero pulled his long fingers through her hair as he held her. He asked again, "Sana, what's wrong?"

"It was something Donna said," Sana told him, "I'm fine."

"We're done anyway, Romero," Kevin told him. "Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome, Kevin," Romero starting to walk away with Sana, "glad to help."

"Come on," Romero said to Sana, "I think you need a nap."

"Probably," responded Sana, "but I'ld like to make love first."

"You should probably nap before we make love," Romero told her.

"I think we should make love before and after my nap," Sana told him.

Romero smiled. He wouldn't argue with her. Making love with Sana was his favorite thing to do.

"What did you say to Sana," Kevin asked Donna.

"I didn't mean to upset her," Donna stepping back off the treadmill. "It's just Romero's had a name around the length of time they disappear."

"Why did you tell her that," Kevin asked Donna.

Donna sighed, "She needs to be prepared to lose him."

"That was mean, Donna," Kevin told her, "That man would never leave her."

"He may not have a choice," Donna told Kevin. "We've never seen what happens when one of them disappears."

"That was still cruel, Donna. You might still be stuck with Dr. Goldmen if it wasn't for her," Kevin told her none too happy with her, "I think some of Dr. Goldmen rubbed off on you."

Romero held Sana as she napped. They came out of their room for dinner. Kevin sat with them for dinner. Donna and Jeremy ate with their kids. Tony ate with the redhead, Megan. Gina ate with Henry. Things were quiet except for the constant chatter of the ones walking the mall. They weren't robots like everyone thought. They weren't cyborgs either. Sana had simply come to think of them as mall walkers because that's what they did all day. They stopped to sit under sunlamps at night to acquire the energy they needed for the next day. They showered, changed clothes, did laundry, then walked the mall and chatted for the rest of the day. Sometimes they helped the attendants rearrange stores and stock shelves. Sana had yet to see a no-face.

After dinner, Sana and Romero slowly walked the mall and chatted with the mall walkers. They saw Donna and Jeremy's kids in the arcade, Ellen and Gina were in the salon getting manicures, and they saw Kevin talking with Janice. Sometimes Janice spent the night with Kevin and it looked like she would this night. Sana noticed that Kevin seemed to be careful not to let himself get too attached to Janice. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake by falling in love with Romero. Yet she wasn't sure she could have prevented it. She missed her parents, her brother, her job and friends. But she wouldn't trade Romero to have them all back.

"You want to watch TV," Romero asked Sana.

"Sure," Sana answered.

Watching TV here in the mall wasn't like watching TV at home. There wasn't any programming, no news. They had digital recordings of TV shows and movies. In Electronics they had a huge overstuffed sectional and overstuffed recliners set up in front of a massive flat screen TV hooked up to stereo speakers.

"What shall we watch," Romero asked her as she sat on the sectional.

"How about Star Trek: Return of the Tribbles," suggested Sana.

Romero smiled, "You really love those old shows."

"Not as much as I love you, but yes, I get a big kick out of them," admitted Sana.

Romero started the episode and joined Sana on the sectional. Sana curled up against him to enjoy the episode.

"What are we watching," asked Kevin smiling and accompanied by Janice.

"Star Trek," answered Sana.

"Ah, that tells me who chose what to watch," said Kevin with a smile. "Mind if we join you?"

"Of course not," answered Romero. "Please sit down."

Kevin and Janice join them. A moment later, Tony and Megan join them, then Gina and Henry and Donna and Jeremy. A few mall walkers join them too. But half way through the episode, Sana was asleep.

"Is she alright," Kevin asked Romero. "She seems to be sleeping a lot. Is she still a bit sick? Maybe you should take her to the health care center."

"She refuses to go to the health care center," Romero informed Kevin as he carefully scooped Sana up into his arms. "She doesn't trust them to poke at her. But I started off as a medical attendant in the health care center. I've had medical training. She's fine."

Sana wrapped her arms around Romero's neck and mumbled, "Romero, I love you so much."

Romero kissed her cheek, pressed his cheek to hers and whispered back, "I love you too." He loved hearing her say she loved him.

Then in a lost little girl voice, Sana said, "Please, don't leave me."

Romero's eyes welled up with tears. He hugged her tighter to himself as he assured her in a whisper, "I'll never leave you."

"You don't know that," said Donna.

"Leave it alone, Donna," Kevin ordered firmly.

Romero didn't bother to reply to Donna. He just carried Sana back to their room where he gently laid Sana on their bed. He took off her shoes, slid her pants off of her and got her to sit up long enough to pull her shirt over her head. He covered her up, got ready for bed himself and read for about an hour before he cuddled up with Sana.

Out of the two of them, Sana was the light sleeper. So at the sound of the door to their room opening, her eyes flicked open. The first thing that occurred to her was it wasn't Romero. Romero was right behind her, spooning her with one arm hugging her tightly to him. Now, it wouldn't be unusual for someone to come over if they needed something, usually Romero's help moving something. But they always knocked. Except for Tony, he never knocked, but he also always announced himself loudly. If it was Tony, he would have said something when he walked in.

Sana lifted her head slowly and said, "Hello?" She made out two figures in white coming toward her and Romero. Then she was suddenly scared because they didn't answer her.

Sana shook Romero. "Romero, wake up... Somebody's in the room."

Sana made out that they each hand something in one hand. The spark of electricity snaking from one prong to the other told her it was a stun gun. The spark gave off just enough light to illuminate a face that made her scream.

Romero was now awake. Sana had screamed. He knocked away the stun gun about to touch Sana, then the one about to touch him. He turned on a light that temporarily blinded their intruders.

Sana could now see their intruders clearly and asked Romero, "Are these no-faces?"

"Yes," Romero confirmed, "This is how life began for me. I was neither male nor female, with no identity of my own.

Sana looked at the two no-faces. They were average height and dressed in white from head to toe. She saw why they were called no-faces and it wasn't because they didn't have faces at all. Their faces were identical and lacked any individuality, unfinished and almost fetal in appearance. Their skin was translucent, their irises without pigment, no facial hair of any kind, no eyelashes nor eyebrows. Their faces seemed stuck in some prenatal stage of development.

"What do you want," Romero asked them angrily.

The voice that answered sounded like a child's, "You are ready for the world, Romero. It is time for you to leave this place. Please, come with us."

"Why the stun guns," asked Romero.

"Dr. Goldmen feels you have become too attached to this female and vice-versa. We were instructed to use the stun guns so we could remove you without a scene."

"Neither of you is developed enough to defend yourselves against me," Romero informed them angrily, "and I will not leave without her."

"Why are you so angry," asked a no-face.

"The stun guns," Romero shouted, "They could cause a miscarriage."

"Miscarriage," repeated a no-face, "We were not made aware of any possible pregnancies."

Romero opened his nightstand drawer and pulled a zip-lock sandwich bag containing Sana's positive pregnancy test. He showed it to the no-face nearest him. "Dr. Goldmen doesn't know everything. My female, Sana, is pregnant. We're having a baby."

"Our apologies," said a no-face. "We did not know," and they turned off the stun guns.

"But Romero," a no-face reminded, "it is time for you to leave this place."

"I will not leave without Sana," Romero unwavering.

The two no-faces looked at each other. "What should we do," one asked the other.

"Let him bring her," answered the other.

"Get dressed," Romero ordered Sana. Sana hurried into her clothes as Romero hurried into his.

"Do you have everything," Romero asked her.

"I have everything I came with," she answered, "including my lucky water bottle."

Romero kissed her, hugged her and took her hand. He asked the no-faces, "Are you aware of anything in particular that we need to take with us?"

"No," answered a no-face.

"Then lead the way," requested Romero.

Romero and Sana followed the two no-faces to the elevator.

"The elevator," said Sana. She hadn't stepped foot in the elevator before. The elevators in malls were for the elderly, physically disabled and very pregnant women. So, it hadn't occurred to her to check the elevator. And on the floor selection pad was a B for basement. A basement was something most malls didn't have, and your typical mall patron wouldn't be interested in the basement.

"I forgot you mentioned there was a sub-terrain," Sana told Romero, "I didn't think to check the basement. Most malls don't have a basement."

"I didn't think of it either," responded Romero, "To me, it's just where I grew up in a manner of speaking."

The doors of the elevator opened and they stepped into a brightly lit white hall. There were no-faces going in both directions obviously working on some task or another.

"This way please," requested one of the no-faces.

Sana stayed under Romero's arm as they followed the two no-faces. He held her tight against him, but Sana was not complaining. She was scared and there were so many no-faces.

"Do you think this is the only place like this," Sana asked Romero, "or do you think they have several places like this scattered around the world?"

"I don't know," answered Romero as they passed a hydroponics room where tomatoes, lettuce and such were growing.

"Is this where most of our food comes from," asked Sana.

"Many things are grown down here for use in the mall," answered Romero, "There's a fish hatchery and a few orchards, chickens, pigs and pigmy cows."

Romero paused in front of a long floor to ceiling window, "And this is where I was born."

Sana stared through the glass into a large sterile white room. There were large cylinders full of fluid with no-faces at different stages of growth floating in them. Umbilical cords were attached to their bellies just like fetuses. And even though they were naked, none were obviously male or female. Other no-faces were walking around checking their progress. Sana and Romero continued to follow the two no-faces. They were finally led into a waiting room.

"You will wait here," a no-face told them. "We do not know how long you will wait. But there is a waste relief room there. There is bottled water in the refrigerated unit and frozen meals in the freezer unit that may be heated in the cooking unit there."

"Thank you," Romero told the two no-faces who responded with a courteous little bow and left the room.

"Gotta pee," Sana told Romero as she pulled him into the restroom with her. She was afraid to be separated from him. "Seems like I have to pee every five minutes."

Sana washed her hands, "So, what was it like down here for you?"

Romero sat on the sofa with her, "My memories of my life down here are fuzzy like a fading dream. We are all born with certain knowledge, reading and math, stuff like that. But we don't know how to walk or rather we can't walk at first. When we come out of the artificial wombs you saw, our legs are legs that have never walked before. It takes a couple of weeks to get walking down. We spend time learning how to cook and clean, learning skills necessary for life in the real world. We have task assigned to us and we train for different jobs. I don't know if we're all down here the same length of time. It may depend on how fast we learn and how fast we start asking questions like: Is this all there is? There has to be more to life than this. Down here as a no-face, you're just a number. You don't know love or happiness. You don't know sleep. The lights are on twenty-four hours a day and they're all UV that keep us producing energy and nutrients like the sun. We get self-defense classes, learn to run. But full muscular development won't take place until after we have received the injection and become our new physical selves."

"You get an injection," questioned Sana.

"Yes, Dr. Goldmen gives them to us," shares Romero. "I'm not exactly sure how she determines when we're ready. But there's an interview where after some human biology classes we are asked if we would prefer to be male or female. We're shown different eye colors, hair colors and textures, different skin tones and asked which we would like to have. Not too long after that, a few days, a week maybe, Dr. Goldmen gives you your injection and you begin to change. There is pain, much pain and discomfort as you quickly develop your new physical attributes. You grow hair, teeth, nails. Your genitals develop and grow. Some may stay the same height, but those who chose to be male often grow taller as I did. Your skin gains coloration and so do the irises of your eyes. Other no-faces monitor you and track your development. I remember being fascinated and a bit envious when I was watching others change. I had no way of knowing how much pain and discomfort they were experiencing until my time came. My gums hurt very badly as my teeth pushed through. Those memories are the clearest from down here, the memories from my transformation."

"After that, you get to go to the mall and become an attendant somewhere," asked Sana.

"Time is spent learning how to take care of our new bodies first, learning how to dress properly, and we watch videos on social interactions. Then we're escorted to the elevator and sent up the elevator. Dr. Goldmen is waiting. She shows you around the mall, shows you where you can rest and recharge, shows you where you'll be working until you receive your name."

"Where did you work," ask Sana wondering why she hadn't thought to ask him before.

"The health care clinic," answered Romero.

Sana was surprised, "Really?"

"Yes," confirmed Romero.

"What did you do," asked Sana, "Are you trained in nursing?"

"No," answered Romero, "I'm a general practitioner."

"Wow," said Sana impressed. "So how did you get your name? Kevin mentioned once that he named you."

"We were doing physicals and Kevin said, 'Ah, you're the Romeo that had Jeremy's daughter, Jeria, blushing.' I really didn't know what to say. I had not noticed her reaction to me. He said, 'OK, Romeo." And I asked, 'do you think Romeo should be my name?' He thought for a minute then said, 'No, Romeo's too old school for you. You're more hip, more modern. You're a ... Romero. That's it. That's you. You're Romero.'"

They were quiet for a few minutes just looking around the room. "Are you hungry," asked Romero concerned that she get enough nutrition for herself and their unborn child.

"A little," answered Sana with a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Three a.m.," answered Romero checking out the frozen dinners. He chose one he felt best met her needs and put it in the microwave. It took two water bottles from the fridge to fill her lucky water bottle.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait," Sana asked as she ate the dinner he heated for her.

Romero shrugged, "I have no idea. But since they provided food and water, perhaps several hours." He opened a bottle of water for himself.