Consensus: Part 1 - Citizen

001

This is how we used to live.

His voice sounded deep and solemn, as though he were sharing something profound. And that first word was drawn out, like he was gesturing to something when he spoke. But Rena couldn't see what it was. Nor could she see him. What filled her sight were things that didn't exist. Land rising up so tall as to block the sky. Trees growing wild and plentiful. Mist crawling through the forest like a living thing.

"I'm not going out there," Kirti said.

Her friend's voice cut through the elusive vision like a cold wind, leaving Rena to stare at the reality of her surroundings. A flat expanse of dark gray soil. Tufts of tan and rust sticking up in random places. Weeds. If she squinted, she could also make out olive-colored splotches of moss, but only a few meters out. Farther than that, all the colors blended into one. It was the fog that did it. Smothering all variation until there was only gray. Above the horizon the gray became brighter. Welcoming. As if someone out there were waiting for her. Rena had never found anyone, or much of anything. In all her exploration, she'd learned that the Barrens were appropriately named.

"It's cold," Kirti added. "I'm going back."

"You're scared," Dal said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Please."

"It's not going to affect your number," Rena said, turning around to face her friends.

Against the light of the city, Kirti was little more than a silhouette. Her long, black hair and tan skin melded with her white clothing. She glanced down at the blue glow on the back of her right hand. The three illuminated digits would have been clear inside the city. Out here, the fog made them dim and blurred. Kirti had a rating of 022. Difficult to accomplish for a sixteen-year-old.

"I don't know what I was thinking, Rena," she said, looking up again. "This is stupid. We shouldn't even be here."

Behind her, the Canopy filled the sky in a giant arc. Its translucent panels were gathering and clarifying the rays of afternoon sunlight. From the outside, it gleamed like one of those old-fashioned lightbulbs Rena sometimes found in abandoned buildings along the Outskirts.

Rena turned up her hands. "Everyone's so afraid of the Barrens. But there's nothing out here."

"Except the tree," Dal added.

Kirti didn't acknowledge the comment. "Then why do you keep coming?"

Rena opened her mouth, but she didn't have a good answer. It was complicated. There was something magnetic about the Barrens. They drew her. Being in the city was like being underwater. Out here she could breathe. And then there was this vague feeling of a connection to her past. Memories that didn't make sense. How was she supposed to put all that into words?

"Well, I'm going," Dal said. "I want to see it for myself."

Rena smiled at him. Dal was always ready for an adventure.

Kirti looked back at the Canopy and shook her head. "The sun will be down soon. I'll wait here for ten minutes, then I'm heading back."

"We can make it if we run," Rena said to Dal.

"OK."

Kirti crossed her arms as if to show the clock had started.

Rena put the city at her back and faced east before jogging farther out into the Barrens. She set a moderate pace that would get them to their destination in just a few minutes. Dal came beside her, already panting. He was tall and lean, though not particularly fit. In the fog, his light skin appeared pale and his blond hair lifeless.