Amber & Ice

Chapter 11: Thoughts of amber and ice

The party was being held in one of the student flats upstairs. Athena was surprised that Cress hadn’t offered their own flat as the venue, but she was pleased too - she didn’t fancy having drunken students all over her stuff.

The flat they were in belonged to the duo of second year girls who ran the vote meetings they attended. Their flat was laid out in a very similar way to Cress and Athena’s own, but - even though Athena hadn’t believed it possible - it was pinker.

Cress gravitated immediately towards their hosts, but Athena hung back, surveying the party.

Fairy lights had been strung across the ceiling. Pink voile billowed over the open windows - not that it was cold, with so many people filling the room. The wall lights had been replaced with pink LEDs and everywhere she looked, people were sipping from pink classes containing rose coloured drinks…

Athena found herself wondering what Dyo would have thought about it. Take away the bright lights and colours, and was it really so different to the meeting she had attended last night? Both had music, dancing, people having fun and a distinctly political edge.

Dora and Demi were by a large feed screen, discussing their holidays. Dora was sending Demi pictures from her family’s trip to Scotland; they had spent the three weeks off skiing. Demi, on the other hand, had returned to her own family in Wales for a society Christmas, full of endless parties. Dora grinned at Athena as she joined them.

“Ooh, look who let Cress dress her up! I bet she had fun this afternoon.”

Athena laughed and gave them a playful twirl.

“I’m actually feeling a little bit nervous,” Demi confided, gripping her drink tightly. Even in her ballet pumps, she towered over the other two girls. Dora’s giant, hot pink heels only served to bring her to Athena’s normal height.

“Really?” Dora asked. She raised her eyebrows, causing her pink eyeshadow to glitter beneath the lights.

“Yeah. Before I thought we would win, no problem. But after the events of the past few days, I’m not so sure.”

“It will be fine; it’s the only logical result.” Dora parroted language they had all heard Cress use countless times. “Why should we pay for their self inflicted illnesses.”

Except the scheme will cost twice as much money to put in place as it will save. Athena wasn’t sure what had prompted the Dyo-toned voice in her head, but she was pleased at least that it stayed there and hadn’t come out loud.

“We have a right to chose to breathe clean air.”

What about the smokers’ right to chose what they want to do? She was finding the voice exceedingly irritating. Especially when it was so incredibly wrong.

Outside the window, the city had already turned an inky black, the twinkling lights of skyscrapers glittering like stars.

Athena wondered again what Dyo would make of this place. She tried to imagine him as one of the guests, wearing a pink shirt like all of the other boys, but she found that she couldn’t do it. But what right did he have to go against the vote? If black was voted in next time, would he ditch the jacket just to prove a point? Athena shook his head. She wasn’t sure which was right.

What had he been doing today? Did it have anything to do with tonight’s announcement? Athena couldn’t shake the memory that the very first time she had seen him had been moments before the explosion. The explosion he had been running away from…

“Athy? Are you okay?” Athena was dragged from her thoughts of amber and ice when Cress’ face appeared before her. Her brow was creased in concern.

“Sure. Yes. Of course.” Athena tried her best to smile, but her cheeks resisted.

“Really? Because you’ve been a little off all day.”

“Sorry - I guess it must just be the vote.”

This seemed a good enough excuse in Cress’ eyes, so she let the subject drop with an affectionate squeeze of Athena’s arm.

It was now also only a few minutes to six, so conversations were coming to an end as people had begun to quieten down and watch the feeds. There was no need for an announcement or warning; despite the chatter and drinks, the students had gathered for only one reason.

A reason which was validated in ten short words: Motion passed in favour of health care fees for smokers.

That was the system; as impartial and unemotional as ever. The same, however, could not be said for the students at the party, who erupted into cheers of jubilation.

“We did it! We did it! We won!” Cress was gushing, bouncing from foot to foot before spinning Athena round in a circle.

They continued to revel for a few more minutes before Daphne called for quiet, so that she could address them as a group.

“Thank you for so much for coming tonight; it is so important that we celebrate this announcement as we were supposed to. We have not allowed ourselves to become intimidated by those who disagree with us. Voting is the only civilised, rational way to make a statement. Our voting system is fair. Perfect. There is no need for oppression through violence.” Daphne’s pitch rose with passion as she teetered on a makeshift stage in her tight, rose glitter dress and heels.

“But now,” she continued, “I would like to welcome to the stage our kind sponsor for the night: Castor Grant from the Freedom Institute.”

A young man in his mid twenties climbed up beside Daphne. He was a model of pop voting, with short cropped hair, a striped pink shirt and grey suit trousers. His smile was like something off of a campaign poster and the green light blinking on his glasses indicated that he was filming the crowd.

The Freedom Institute was the abbreviated name for what had once been known as the ‘Freedom of Speech Movement’. Decades ago, they had been one of the few corporations to back the move towards Direct Democracy. They were still some of its biggest supporters and often helped the group out with it’s campaigns.

“Thank you very much for your kind invitation tonight,” Castor told the crowd, his tone serious and formal. “It is great to see so many keen voters undeterred by the threats terrorists seek to pose against us.” There were a few murmurs of uneasiness. This was not the same, upbeat introduction Daphne had just given us. It was colder, darker; a threat of further violence.

“Unfortunately, willpower and confidence alone will not be enough to go against these threats. More security may be needed - if we are all to be safe; if our perfect democracy is to remain untarnished. Security is paramount. We need a society which we can all feel safe in.”The murmurs now grew more positive as the crowd agreed with such concern for their safety. Cress was watching him with her customary zeal, nodding her head in agreement as he spoke. But Athena felt a growing uneasiness in her gut as she recalled Briseis’ warning at the meeting last night. What would these people do to ensure the safety this man assured them they so desperately needed? Athena found herself wishing that she could talk to Ariadne. But she was still too unsure of the group’s motives to risk messaging her. As much as she didn’t like Castor’s subtle threats, she didn’t want to end up involved with a group of terrorists, either.