The Felinites

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Abby's POV

        Prissy and I stroll through the multi-colored dust streets as she tells me what each door leads to since all buildings are underground. There are thousands upon thousands of doors so close together. There is almost not enough room for them all to fit. This is mainly due to the fact that the Felinites stick together better than most species do; therefore, they are not spread out.

         "These are the community buildings," Prissy tells me. "That one is the school," she points to a blue door with the picture of smiling kids holding books on it. "This one is the library," she says as we pass a door painted to look like a book shelf filled with hardcovers and paperbacks. "Here is the apothecary," she continues as we pass a black one with medical supplies painted on it, such as a long sharp object, strange looking earbuds, and other things that look medicinal but I do not know what they are. "You go here if you are ever unwell or injured.”

         "Ok, I think I am learning," I tell her.

         "Good," she says, "Now these are the shops. Can you guess what each one is?" The way she worded the question makes me feel like I am a student as young and naive as any that would enter the blue door that we passed a few feet ago.

         I study a door with tools painted on it, "Is this a repair shop?" I ask.

         "Yes," she says with an appreciative nod. "Come, I need to go in this one." She opens the purple door of the repair shop and slides down the pole. I follow after her and, for once, I land gracefully on all fours. "Nice," Prissy says.

         Prissy glances over the shelves as she searches for something. When she finally finds whatever she was looking for she whispers to me, "Now we have to pay for what we want to buy. We use these." She touches a tube that hangs on a chain around her neck. Then she unplugs the tube and pours out three tiny glittering coins. One is blue, one pink, and one is gold. I realize that they are the same colors as the moons.

         "What are they?" I ponder out loud.

         "We call them crystals," Prissy informs me. "The blue ones equal one crystal. The pink ones equal twenty crystals. And the yellow ones equal fifty."

         "That is easy enough to remember," I say. "Where do you pay at?"

         "Right here, this is the Service Center line," she says. Then she gestures to a machine on the counter at the front of the line. "That is a Servicer. It keeps inventory of how many of each item there should be and calculates the amount the customer owes. Then it gives you the correct change back."

         I study the Servicer. It is a tiny box that projects a holographic screen into the air that a worker moves his finger across as he speaks to the customer. "So, it is an advanced cash register?" I do not even know where the word came from but I did not care either. It seemed to fit well enough.

         "Um, Abby, I do not know what a cash register is," Prissy tells me. "You must be regaining your memory," she mutters it in an accusatory tone as if I have done something I was not supposed to do.

         "I think that I might be but we can talk about that later, not in public," I tell her, still studying the machine instead of looking at her. The Servicer has five cords leading from the bottom over to a wall. That must be how it gets energy. I wonder what all is inside it to make it work. There must have been a lot of work put into it.

         "Move, Abby, we are next in line," Prissy growls grumpily. I move forward and Prissy sits whatever she is buying onto the counter. I bet there are microchips in that device. That is the only way it would be able to function. It kind of reminds me of looks familiar but I cannot quite place what it resembles that I have seen or where I have seen it.