Monday Morning

Melody did what she said she would, and I followed her example. We slept most of the weekend. We only got up to eat and use the bathroom. The shower I took after our long night was amazing. I still smelled like trash the next morning though, which is where my maroon dress ended up. Mel convinced me that it was ruined. I was in denial for a day and soaked it in laundry soap but that did nothing for the sour stench that wafted out of the fibers.

Monday morning reared its ugly head. I shuffled out of my room to find Mel sitting at the tiny kitchen table. Her hair was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck and she had elected to not put on any makeup. She propped an elbow on the table and spooned honey flavored cereal into her mouth.

"You look like death warmed over," I said, pulling out the other stool and plopping down.

"Speak for yourself." She swallowed a mouthful. "You look like the grim reaper."

"I feel like the grim reaper." I poured some cereal and milk into the bowl that Mel had set out for me.

We sat in silence, slurping our breakfast and staring at each other with bleary, shadowed eyes. Melody picked up her bowl a tipped it back to drink the last dregs of her milk. A few drops splattered on the front of her baby blue scrubs.

"Shit! These are the only clean ones I have right now!" She shot up from her seat and grabbed the dish towel that hung from the handle of the stove. Mel dabbed at the spots with a corner of the towel, then wetted it with warm water and gently rubbed.

"That's probably just making it worse," I said around a mouthful.

"Yeah, but it's better than nothing. I don't want to work all day with white spots on my boob." She was drying the wet smudge with the other end of the towel.

"Want some grease to cover it up? There's still some left on my coveralls from Friday."

"Ew, no! That stuff stinks."

I laughed. "Not as bad a dumpster."

Melody snorted. "That I will agree with." She wrinkled her nose and flopped the towel on the counter. She sat back down on her stool and held out her wrist. "Hey, will you look at this thing? Is it really a tracking device?"

"Oh, yeah! I was going to do that on Saturday."

"Well, that didn't happen."

"We had other, more important things to do."

"Like sleeping." She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I grinned and took her hand, turning it over to see the underside of her wrist. A tiny red light blinked through the khaki colored rubber of her wristwatch. Two thin, hair-like wires squiggled out on either side of the pinprick light. I pulled the band out to look on the other side. There was a round metal sensor embedded in the silicone where it laid against her pulse.

"I'm not a professional Electrician, but I would say that you have been blessed with a high-tech tracer. At least they spared no expense."

"Great," Mel huffed. "How does it work?"

I chewed on my lip, staring at the tiny device. "Well, it looks like it's powered by your body heat. That's what the little metal disc is for. The wires tap into cell and radio signals to pick up your location and then the part that's blinking transmits it to the Immune's systems."

"I'm so glad you explain these things in a language I can understand."

"Honestly, I don't know Electrician lingo. I can only tell you how I think it works."

Mel pulled her arm back. "That's good enough for me." She scrubbed her hands over her face. "Leon said we'd regret it if I take it off, but isn't there some way to get rid of it?"

I shook my head. "Maybe, but I don't know enough about these gadgets. If you take it off it will no longer have a power source, which would alert the Naked Faces that you have removed it because it would stop transmitting. They would have no trouble finding you without it either."

"Why even use it then?"

"To prove a point." I leaned away from the table and crossed my arms.

"Stuck-up, almighty bastards," she grumbled.

"Oh, now you agree with me?" I teased.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right, I should have listened to you about them all along, blah, blah, blah." Mel stood up and left the kitchen. She poked her head back around the corner a minute later wearing a puffy purple coat and pulling on her Visor. "They're still nice to look at though!"

"Sure, and we're not?"

"That's not what I said." Mel jabbed a finger at me from across the room. "Anyway, I'm leaving. See you tonight. I have a twelve hour shift today. Bye!"

I grinned. "Bye, Mel!"

The door clicked shut and her footsteps tapped down the stairs. She called a greeting to Lena and then the house was quiet. I propped my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my laced fingers.

The Immune wouldn't do anything to Mel unprovoked, right? As long as I do what they ask Mel and I will be fine. I gritted my teeth. I despised waiting for a summons. Maybe I could play their game but do it my way.

I shoved away from the table, almost knocking over the stool. The cereal bowl clattered into the sink and I shoved the box back onto its shelf. I yanked my coveralls and jacket from the pegs by the door. I swung the jacket on and shoved the coveralls into my backpack. I fished out my Oris from the small front pocket of the backpack. It suctioned onto the lower half of my face as I tramped down the stairs.

"Have a nice day, Lena!" I called as I left the house.

Her muffled reply drifted from somewhere in the back rooms, "Be careful out there!"

I trotted down the sidewalk. My legs were still wobbly from the midnight run I had on Friday, but after a few minutes I settled into a comfortable pace. I never liked taking a bus, so I always jogged to the factory instead. It was on the southern edge of Genesis Eastside, which was just far enough for me to get a refreshing twenty-minute jog in the morning. The manufacturing complex of Dreyfus Technologies extended much further into Eastside, but my bay was located on the south fringe of the district. Their factories made up most of that section of the city.

Genesis was loosely divided into five areas. Southside was purely residential with the streets and buildings spaced much further apart than the rest of the city. The satellite image made it look like the southern part of Genesis was falling apart and becoming overgrown, but that's the way the residents want it. The people who own the houses in Old Town are the only people in the city who own their homes, except for Naked Faces.

Eastside is Dreyfus Tech's playground with sprawling factories and manufacturing plants. Northside is spattered with labs run by Campbell Health Solutions, who also grow the city's food. Mel works at Genesis Central Hospital which, true to its name, is located in Genesis City Center. It is the largest, most specialized hospital in the city. There is one hospital and one clinic in each sector of Genesis, and when they can't figure out what's wrong with you that's when you get sent to GCH. The City Center is also where the Big Three have their main offices and where most Immune choose to reside in luxury skyscrapers. Genesis Westside is where the supply yards and equipment for Ambross Construction are located. Most Ambross employees also live in that area.

The Old Town residences turned into three story apartment complexes and single level convenience stores. A school bus was stopped at one of the corners picking up kids of all ages. The solar panels on its roof made it look like an armored caterpillar. The closest school was located west of the Dreyfus complex, but that bus could have been from any school in the city.

Families were allowed to select which schools their children would attend based on the kids' talents and interests. Naturally, each of the Big Three supported various academies and in return those schools emphasized different subject matter that would be valuable to the Big Three in future employees. Public schools were funded by the city residents and covered all subjects equally, so if someone couldn't pass entrance exams into the academies, they could still have an education. Most kids could find a niche among the academies and get accepted.

I didn't pass any of the exams until high school.

The huge warehouse-looking buildings of Dreyfus Manufacturing appeared at the end of the street. It was surrounded by a black fence of vertical bars with palm scanners at each entrance. I skidded to a stop in front of a pedestrian gate and pressed my hand against the screen. It blinked green and the gate slid open with a rattle.

My breath rasped in my ears. I gripped the straps of my backpack and bounced across the concrete yard. The high, blocky buildings squatted one after the other for miles. I had never been to the northern side of the complex. I had never needed to.

Ten minutes later I unlocked another palm scanner. This one was installed next to the sectional steel door of bay number 918. The automated system pulled it up with a tick-tick-tick until it was snug against the ceiling. The large opening was a dark maw that yawned out from the building at me.

My boots tapped on the concrete and the sound echoed through the dark as I walked into the bay. I stopped at what felt like the center of the murky blackness and inhaled the scents of metal, grease, and oil. I snapped my fingers. Lights clicked on along the walls, filling every nook and cranny with a warm yellow glow. The massive room was scattered with machine parts, tools, and half-finished projects. A work counter rimmed the walls in a sharp U shape. Schematics were tacked above the counter all around the room with big round magnets.

"Forever punctual, huh?"

I looked back at the entrance over my shoulder. The outline of a tall man leaned against the wall, backlit by the morning sun. "Hey, Claude," I said.

He stepped into the bay and his features came into focus. His glasses reflected the interior of the bay, hiding his dark brown eyes. Claude kept his strawberry blond hair neatly smoothed back from his face even though it was almost as long as mine. The Oris he wore was dark gray. His white business style shirt was pristine, and his tan pants were freshly pressed. Melody liked to call him stuffy.

"How's my favorite little LSS Mechanic?" he asked.

I shrugged off my backpack and tossed under the workbench on the left side of the bay. "Emphasis on little, right?"

Claude dropped his black messenger bag next to my backpack, which was also his section of the workbench.

"Of course. It's part of what makes you the best." He grinned and folded his absurdly long legs under the counter as he sat on his stool.

I snorted. "Thanks. Good morning, by the way."

"I did ask how you were."

"You were teasing." I pulled my hair back and secured it at the back of my neck with the hair tie that lived on my wrist.

"So? I still wanted to know."

"Fine. I'm just fine."

He squinted at me with one elbow propped on the metal workbench.

"It was a rough weekend, okay?" I huffed. "How is my Engineer today?"

"Hmm…"

I splayed a hand on top of his schematics that were piled on the counter. "What is that supposed to mean? You sound like a doctor."

Claude made a face of disgust around his Oris. "You know how squeamish I am, Cal."

"Yep."

I beamed underneath my Oris. All he could see was the crinkles around my eyes and I relished the mischievous feeling that fact supplied. I grabbed one of the plans and fluttered it through the air as I sauntered over to where I had left the latest project on Friday night.

"Let me know when you've worked the kinks out of Generator 4C. I'd like to get that monstrosity out of the middle of my bay before Wednesday. It's taking up too much floor space," I called back to Claude.

"Aye, aye Cap'n," he said. I could almost hear his stiff salute cut through the air.