Bear finds us as we near the communications room, his hands bloody. Jessix wipes them clean with a cloth they had brought in their bag, and gives Bear some extra weapons. “Where’s Arden?” he asks, breathing shakily.
“Went to go warn his roommate,”I reply. “We couldn’t stop him.”
Bear huffs. “The less people that know, the better. But whatever.”
We wait where we are. At first I don’t know why, but then it becomes evident when a group of people turn a corner and greet Jessix. Four of them -- one that looks about Bear or Arden’s age, two looking about my age, and the youngest looking maybe fourteen. They all shrink a little at the sight of me, but Bear reassures them that I’m on their side.
Is this what I’m going to become now? Some sort of automatic enemy that scares people away before I’ve even said a word? There isn’t time to think over it, though, because Arden catches up to us and we’re on the move again. We head down the final hallway before the communications room and stop outside. Mimi, the youngest, presses her ear against the wall. According to Cal, a blond sixteen-year-old, Mimi’s largest Difference is that she can hear sound frequencies outside of the normal range. She also has sharpened hearing, which makes her good at eavesdropping as well as listening through walls.
“I hear three voices,” Mimi tells us. “There could be more, though.”
“Okay, so on the count of three, we storm in there and shoot them with the tasers or the dart guns I gave everyone,” Jessix says. “We don’t want to hurt anyone unless we have to. Next, Arthemis or Bear will make an announcement over the P.A. system while Cal disables the cameras and all the other communications.” Jessix turns to Bear and I. “You can’t take long with the announcement, you two. The more time you talk for, the more time it gives the Masks to find us. Be quick.”
Bear looks at me. “Want to do the honours? It’s because of you that we’re all here, anyway.”
I nod, and Jessix turns back to everyone else to continue. “Once the announcement is done, Cal will cut the power as quickly as he can, and we get out of here. Fawn will be leaving gasoline all over the place, so I would advise you neither step in it nor stick around after. Arthemis, make sure to say that in the announcement. That anyone left in the building will go up in flames with it, but we won’t force anyone to leave with us. They’ll have a choice to go with the Masks or with us, and we will be leaving the Core and its flawed ways of being and we will be making our own society, where everyone is accepted as they are.” I nod again and swallow the lump in my throat. “Everyone ready?” Jessix asks. Confirmation ripples around our little group, and I take a deep breath. “Three, two, one, go!”
The next few moments probably only take a few seconds to unfold, but they feel as if they’ve been stretched out. Jessix, leading the group, throws the door open and rushes in, the rest of us following. For a moment I forget what I’m supposed to do, but then the tasers and darts start going and the Masks in the control room are disarmed and unconscious almost immediately. Mimi was right -- there are only three of them. And they’re stripped of any weapons or communications by the time I make it to the announcement system. Finn, the other one of Jessix’s friends, helps me turn on the strange contraption, and positions the microphone for me to speak into. For a moment the words don’t come, but then I think of everything this place has done to me and then they won’t stop.
“Your attention please. Residents of the Pacifica abnormis facility, or the Core as most of us here call it. What you’re listening to is the beginning of a new way of living. As I speak, communications all over this building, all over this chain of buildings, and all over this island -- yes, we’re on an island, did you know? -- are going down. This is your chance to stand up against the flawed system we’ve been pushed into, and to fight back--”
There’s a bang on the door. “Open up!” someone yells. “Open the door now and we won’t hurt you!”
Cal swears, his fingers flying over three keyboards at once. “Not all the comms are off yet, but these Masks are here from the other side of the Core,” he yells over the loud banging. “They must’ve known somehow!”
It’s Arden’s turn to swear, but he’s much better at it than Cal. “It was Angelo, I bet it was! He looked so scared when I told him and now I wish I hadn’t!”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now!” Bear replies, pushing against the door with his body. “Just keep speaking, Arthemis!”
I turn back to the microphone and try to block out the angry yelling from the other side of the door. “Without their connection to each other, the dissimulo are just people. Yes, they have weapons and yes, they’re trained, but so are you. Work together and overpower them and then get out of here, because anyone left in this building in five minutes is going up in flames.”
“Open the damn door or we break it in!”
I force myself to stay calm, to speak louder above the banging and yelling. “But we want to give you a choice. You don’t have to come with us. Some of you may want to stay with the dissimulo, where you may feel safe. Even cared for. You are free to do so. But for those of you who want more to life, come with us. We will be leaving and never returning, going into the woods and making our own way of life, like our ancestors did before us.”
A loud bang on the door. Bear grunts and Jessix throws their body weight against the door next to him.
My hands shake as I deliver the last of what I need to say. “So make your choice. And make it well!”
YOU ARE READING
The Normals | ✓
Science FictionWhen Arden stumbles across a half-conscious, bloodied girl at his local train station, he doesn't know what to think. But once she tells him what happened to her, he gains a whole new perception of his world. Arden lives in pretty much the perfect s...
