Awakening (44 page)

Then she passed the holographic hedges that screened the warehouses from the residential area and left Devak behind, his kiss still burning her lips. She cut across the plasscrete aprons behind the warehouses, drawn by the sound of the Chadi River just beyond. Homesickness churned inside her, and she felt as unsettled as the familiar brown water of the Chadi.

Maybe she should go home again, to Tala’s. Sleep in her nurture mother’s flat and regain her strength there. Try to work out what to do about Devak.

But where would her life go after that? She couldn’t just stay in Chadi without an Assignment. Could she continue on with Risa and the Kinship? Did she even want to be part of the Kinship? If not, she’d need another Assignment and a patron, someone who would treat her fairly. Would the
councilor take her on if she no longer did Kinship work? Would she ever really find a way to be free and to be herself at the same time?

No matter what, she was certain of one thing. She would stay a GEN. And find a way to be as free as she could manage. Whether or not that life included Devak.

Could she bear it if she never saw him again? She touched her mouth, both wishing he’d never kissed her and that she could have let it go on forever.

Kayla.

The voice stopped her in her tracks. Angry at its intrusion, she shut her mind and refused to respond. Yes, the FHE had helped her escape Akhilesh’s lab, but their invasion into her life, her self, had to stop.

“Kayla!”

She shook her head, confused. Then she realized it had been Devak’s voice. Walking backward, she peered back the way she’d come. The brother suns had both risen, and their brilliance threw his figure into silhouette.

She’d asked for time, yet he’d followed her. Should she let him catch up? Yes! her heart said, but uncertainty still twisted inside her.

As she hesitated, she heard a lev-car engine from the other direction. She turned toward the noise just as a WindSpear pulled up at the far end of the row of warehouses. Not a Brigade vehicle, thank the Infinite.

Still, odd to see a lev-car where ordinarily only lorries traveled. The glare of the brother suns reflecting off the windshield made it hard to see who was inside. Maybe two people.

She was crafting an excuse for her presence there in case the WindSpear’s occupants asked, when a new message jolted her.

Kayla, come to me!

The urgency of the summons sent a chill through her. The voice seemed to echo in her inner ear.

And to her utter shock, she realized she
knew
the voice. Recognized it, the same way she’d recognized Akhilesh. And as the familiarity struck her, she felt herself filled with that same unwanted warmth and comfort.

Kayla stood frozen by her discovery, as the driver and passenger climbed out of the WindSpear. A man and woman.

Even from the hundred or so meters separating them, there was something naggingly familiar about the woman. She was small in stature like Kayla, her long hair just as wild around her shoulders.

“Kayla!” the woman shouted.

She wasn’t the least surprised that the voice was the same as the one she’d heard inside. Hearing its physical timbre, the sense of familiarity grew stronger.

Behind her, Devak called to her again. Confusion and longing, both toward Devak and the woman, kept her rooted. Kayla turned toward Devak, feeling torn in two.

“Kayla!”
The woman screamed her name now, tugging Kayla back around toward her. The woman had come close enough for Kayla to see the fear and alarm in her face.
“Elana! Come to me!”

Elana. How could this woman know Kayla’s trueborn name? Kayla realized there was one way she could, a way that explained the woman’s strange familiarity.

“Kayla!” Devak called as he ran toward her.

She needed space. From both of them. Kayla spotted a narrow alley between two warehouses and cut toward it. She heard the woman scream her name again, calling out Kayla and then Elana, her panic clear. But Kayla kept moving toward the relative safety of the alley. She would cut back to Zul’s house from the other end. Hopefully, Devak would figure that out and follow her.

In the dimness of the alley, she could barely see the graffiti scribbled just above her head. By the time it registered, she was halfway along the alley and it took vital seconds for her frantic brain to decide whether to run forward or back.

Her gaze fixed on those three scrawled letters,
FHE,
as she started to run. Then the world exploded, flinging her high in the air.

In the next moment, everything turned to black.

GLOSSARY

adhikar:
Tracts of land that only trueborns possess. The more adhikar a trueborn owns, the higher their status. Only trueborns are allowed to own adhikar.

allabain:
A nomadic subset of lowborns. They use temporary tent-like homes called bhaile that they carry from place to place.

annexed:
A partitioned section of a GEN’s brain that the GEN brain circuitry accesses and utilizes as storage and computational space using datapod uploads. When GENs are created in the tank, their brains are partitioned to create the annexed brain and bare brain sections.

Assignment:
The “job” to which a GEN is Assigned. According to the Humane Edicts, GENs are to be Assigned to a job to which they are suited, i.e., one that utilizes their genetically designed skill set.

Assignment specialist:
A trueborn responsible for uploading the appropriate information for GENs, both for their first Assignment and for subsequent Assignments if their situation changes.

bali:
The earring worn by trueborns in their right earlobe that identifies their status. High-status wear diamonds, demi-status wear emeralds, and minor-status wear sapphires. A genuine bali can detect the DNA of the wearer and will be rejected by the body of someone who is wearing it illegally.

bare brain:
The section of a GEN’s brain where ordinary memories of experiences and study are stored. It’s effortless for a GEN to retrieve memories from this section. They must learn to access their annexed brain to retrieve data and programming from it.

bhaile:
A tent-home used by the nomadic allabain lowborns. The supports are made of shaped sticker bush branches. Historically, the sides were made of pounded, felted sticker bush root, but with the advent of GEN labor and cheaper production costs, allabain now use plasscine sheets for their tents.

bhimkay:
The meter-high spider that is at the top of the arachnid food chain on Loka. A bhimkay can easily bring down even an adult-sized drom. Trueborns use electrified fencing to protect their drom herds from the bhimkay.

Brigade:
Loka’s police force. At least one Brigade is assigned to each sector within Svarga.

chera pants:
Derived from churidar pants, tightly fitting pants worn by men and women in South & Central Asia.

crèche:
A daycare center for lowborn children. The cost of the care in the crèche would be deducted from the pay of the lowborns.

datapod:
A thumb-sized device used to upload and download information into GENs. It is also used to interface with hardware such as computers.

demi-status:
A class of trueborn lower than high-status and higher than minor-status. They’re affluent, but not as wealthy as a high-status. Demi-status trueborns hold 32 of the 160 seats of the Lokan parliament.

dhan:
The currency on Loka.

DNA Mark:
The official name for the GEN tattoo. Each tattoo is unique for a given GEN.

drom:
A shaggy camel-like six-legged mammal that roams the open scrap grass plains. The native droms are about the size of a pony, and therefore more vulnerable to the bhimkay. The genetically engineered version of the droms are the size of a dromedary camel.

enforcer:
A member of the Brigade. Largely comprised of minor-status trueborns who have lost their adhikar and would be demoted from trueborn status to lowborn if not for their service as a Brigade enforcer. Each Brigade includes one or two GEN enforcers for duties such as physically handling GENs and delivery of GEN tack (clothes and equipment) for GEN Assignments.

extendibles:
Metal pins that extend from a datapod when it is activated. When the datapod is applied to a GEN’s facial tattoo, the extendibles pierce the skin and link with the GEN’s internal circuitry.

GAMA:
The Genetic Augmentation and Manipulation Agency. GAMA is responsible for creating GENs and all other genetic alterations that take place in gen-tanks.

GEN:
A Genetically Engineered Non-human. Using mostly human DNA and some animal DNA, each GEN is created with a specific physical or mental ability. They are gestated in a tank.

gen-tank:
A large fish tank-like vessel filled with gen-fluid that’s used for both the gestation/alteration of GENs and for healing certain trueborn injuries and diseases.

gen-fluid:
A thick green fluid that’s used in a gen-tank. Gen-fluid must be programmed for the specific genetic makeup of the occupant of the tank.

gene-splicer:
A trueborn genetic engineer (likely minor-status) who designs and creates GENs. Gene-splicers also use the tank to correct trueborn abnormalities, but a gene-splicer with that position would likely be a demi-status trueborn.

Grid:
The Monitoring Grid that tracks every GEN on Svarga. It has two modes—active tracking, where the software searches for particular GENs to check that they are where they belong, and passive mode, where the GENs’ locations are read and stored in a database for possible later use.

healer:
An uneducated GEN medic of sorts. They use mostly folklore and dubious, untested methods to treat their GEN patients.

high-status:
The highest level of trueborn. They are lavishly wealthy and hold 120 of the 160 seats of the Lokan parliament.

Humane Treatment Edicts:
An agreement reached two decades before the start of Tankborn. The Edicts specify how many hours GENs are to work in a day, give them one rest day a week off, forbid physical abuse, and require a safe and sanitary living space. Trueborns tend to follow the Edicts as it suits them, many ignoring them entirely.

jik:
An extremely derogatory term for a GEN. Used largely by trueborns.

Judicial Council:
The judiciary on Loka. The JC adjudicates laws passed by the parliament. This includes passing judgment on GENs who break trueborn laws (such as straying outside their radius or disrespecting trueborns). In these cases, they decide if a GEN should be realigned and reset as punishment (if a Brigade enforcer hasn’t already done so). Trueborns have many ways to both avoid judgment by the JC and avoid any punishment if they’re found guilty.

kelfa:
A hot GEN drink made from roasted kel-grain. GENs often compare the skin color of high-status trueborns to the color of kelfa.

Kinship:
A secret group of trueborns, lowborns, and GENs whose goal is to secure fair treatment for lowborns and equal rights for GENs.

kit:
Derogatory term for a young GEN.

korta:
Derived from kurta, a tunic-style Indian shirt.

lev-car:
A form of transportation that uses a suspension engine. Like a sedan. They are electrically charged. There are also micro-levs (like a sports car), multi-levs (like a small bus), and pub-trans (like a large bus).

Loka:
The barely habitable planet where the refugees from Earth settled. Loka has four continents, but only Svarga is suitable for humans. The others are polar Virynand, earthquake-ridden Utul, and volcanic Peralor.

lowborn:
A class of humans who are born of a mother but do not own adhikar. The poorest among them are somewhat nomadic and live on the outskirts of trueborn-only sectors, often where the sector borders GEN-only sectors. The more prosperous lowborns are merchants or factory supervisors who live in mixed sectors with minor-status trueborns.

medic:
A trueborn physician. A high-status medic would treat high or demi-status trueborns. Lower status medics would treat minor-status trueborns or possibly lowborns if they had the funds to pay. A demi-status medic might also be required to work in a GEN sector, but that would be a short-term assignment.

mini-cin:
A small, indoor incinerator for burning trash.

minor-status:
The lowest class of trueborns. If they’re smart, they become technology specialists in some computerized area (such as the Grid) or teachers. If they’re not deep thinkers, they work in bureaucratic jobs or serve in the Brigade. Minor-status trueborns hold 8 of the 160 seats of the Lokan parliament.

nurture mother:
A nurture mother is a GEN female who has been genetically engineered to nurture young. They might be assigned to nurture GENs in their home sector or another, or possibly nurture lowborns. Trueborns would be cared for by lowborns. A nurturer could be male (nurture-father). GEN siblings within the same home are nurture-brothers or nurture-sisters.

plasscine:
A processed form of plassfiber that is used to make cheap furniture and other home items, clothing, jewelry, etc.

plasscrete:
A processed form of plassfiber that is mixed with a cement-like mineral native to Loka to create a very strong material used for construction.

plassfiber:
A naturally occurring mineral on Loka that is mined from the western side of a mountain range called The Wall. Plass is analogous to a solid form of petroleum and can be processed similarly provide an energy source (it fuels the electrical grid on Svarga). As plasscine, it can be molded into furniture and even fabric for clothing. Plasscrete and steelcrete are used in construction.