Beyond The Know

Gravy and High School

This is getting irksome, Parker thought as he shook himself out of a staring moment. His mind kept wandering, veering down one path and (eventually) to one dead end thought.

They weren't in The Know anymore.

But he still wondered how his sister had managed to crack the code, back at the Barrier. I mean, come on, circle? He wondered vaguely. How had she managed to guess that? He pondered on the puzzle, which led him on to think about the sheer, natural beauty of the areas beyond The Know. A giddy smile formed on his face as he stared into space, recalling the trees and the smell of sweet blossoms. His smile was turned abruptly upside down when he recollected the fact that his mother had hid that dream-like world from them in order to maintain serenity, yet she'd somehow ended up with the complete opposite.

Parker mused on the thought of his mother going ballistic, trying to figure where her children had gone, and he began to grow worried.

Something blurry and unidentifiable waved in front of his face, and he blinked hard to escape yet another staring moment. When he opened them again, he made out Flora's hand a mere inch from his face. Just to irritate her, he blew a cool breath onto her outstretched hand, and she yanked it back with an enraged shriek. Parker just sat back into his chair with an infuriatingly triumphant grin on his face. Flora glared at him from across the table, her glower aflame.

"Parker," Bella Haze sighed, "pay attention. What I'm telling you is vital." He sat up straighter and nodded in response. He was taking the situation seriously- his mind just kept wandering...

Alexa kicked her brother's ankle gently under the table as he began to stare into space again. She couldn't concentrate either, but it was sort of comical to watch him hit reality every two minutes. They were eating their dinner; bowl shaped crispy potatoes called 'Yorkshire Puddings' (Is everything named after 'York' here? Alexa had wondered), gravy and some chicken. It was different from the nutritionally balanced foods her mother had fed her back in The Know.

Alexa had been wondering, as she'd sat on the carpet watching the television earlier that day with Parker and Flora bickering in the background, where The Know actually came from. Where was it? Why didn't people know about it? Her curiosity got the better of her at the dinner table, and she managed to formulate a question.

"Why does The Know even exist?"

Bella turned to her, staring quizzically.

"What do you mean," Bella paused, "why?" Alexa didn't know why, but she felt ashamed to ask the question. As if it was something she should have been taught.

"I mean," she squirmed in her seat as everybody waited for the question, "what's the point of hiding it away? Who are we here? Where do we come from, to these people?"

"Your mother didn't tell you?" Bella rolled her eyes knowingly, "I'd always told her that her way of excluding necessary information from you would cost her." She shook her head in a melancholy manner, and intertwined her fingers.

"The Know is... a secret weapon," Bella began, much to the muddled looks given to her by the siblings, "it belongs to the United Kingdom; it's why you've received a British education, and the accent is part of the package." That word again, Alexa thought to herself, British. Is that who I am? Am I...British?

"You have Artisans; in case emergency workers are required. Savants carry out extra research outside the UK, which is shared between the countries. The Garrison are merely a combined branch that stems from the British Army and Police Force. And people like you...The Benefactors: you trade, take care of financial services. In exchange, the UK provides the Know with money and a system."