Elevatia

15. Finale!

We opened the grate and the four of us plummeted down, yelling, in a tangle of limbs onto the table below.

"Vyle, we have you now!" I said triumphantly as we dragged ourselves slowly to our feet, standing on the table in front of fifteen stunned spectators.

Chip had a nosebleed from headbutting the table. Munk was limping even more than before, probably twisted her ankle. Jayla winced as she tested out whether she'd dislocated her shoulder.

"What is the meaning of this?" Vyle asked. His words as cold as they were inquisitive whilst also being menacing.

Chip and Jayla used stun guns to immobilise the remaining Upright, knocking their guns out of their hands, then turned their weapons on Vyle. Munk shuffled over to the camera and tinkered with the wiring before anyone could stop her. She gave me a nod.

"We're broadcasting now all over Elevatia, Vyle." I said fixing my hair quickly. "All the screens in all the Districts, even in the unmeasured compound. I thought the people of Elevatia deserved a show."

"Ooh is it pumpkin carving time?" one of the Talls round the table asked excitedly.

"No," I scoffed. "It's revolution!"

Vyle stared at me frostily. "Who are you then?" he asked.

"Kit. I'm sure your guards have told you about me."

"Nope."

I shushed him. "My parents knew you Miles and they knew I would bring you down."

I walked up the table towards him.

"People of Elevatia!" I said addressing the camera. "Miles has been lying to you. He told us all that height was a morally relevant factor for organising society. He had us organising our whole lives by his rules. He tells us he is the highest of us all. But have you ever wondered why we've never seen him alongside anyone else? We've never seen him standing up without being obscured by a desk or some other object? Vyle is hiding something."

I could only imagine how people were hanging on my words across Elevatia. Jaws dropping, and foreheads creasing as people absorbed my words eyes glued to the screen. A montage of shots here would probably be atmospheric.

I arrived at Vyle at the head of the table. Finally face to face with my nemesis.

"Mile Vyle. How do you measure up?" I asked triumphantly.

Vyle looked at me for a long moment, then across at all the expectant faces in the room.

Slowly he stood up and revealed his height – away from the desk, no platform shoes, no artificial aids.

"Oh." I said.

Turns out Vyle was in fact extremely tall.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, Kit. You really shouldn't have hinged your whole revolution on this one point. If you don't think height is important, why would you even care about mine? Hypocrisy would hardly be my worst crime. Do you not know how many people I've murdered?"

He laughed lightly. Then he snapped his fingers and ten more hidden Upright burst out of plant pots, armed to the teeth. In moments they disarmed my friends. One dragged Chip over to Vyle, holding a gun to Chip's head, awaiting Vyle's command.

"So, you fancy yourself a saviour of the people?" He said. "Let's make this interesting. Either you pick the deaths of your friends here. Or I kill seven hundred people across Elevatia. The choice is yours."

I gasped, looking at Chip's face. My eyes welled up with tears. Chip's mouth moved but I couldn't hear the words. Maybe it was "elephant juice". I didn't have time to look for the loose elephant, I had just realised something I had to tell him.