Joan Ascends

Chapter 17: We're all going to die

"Ew. Is that what we look like when we're making out?"

"No way, babe. It's much hotter when it's us."

It takes effort to pull away from Justus, but I do. Alison and Tupac have found our hiding spot, and they watch us with twin expressions of distaste.

"Find your own corner," Justus mutters, his eyes never leaving mine.

Before he can kiss me again, Alison grabs my hand and tugs me away. "Save it for after the premiere. Right now, we're working. It's just as important for us to stay in character tonight as it is when we're filming."

I know she's right, even though my body wants to drag Justus into an empty room and finish what we started.

Justus looks like he still wants to argue, but Tupac jostles his shoulder to get his attention. "This is bigger than the two of you. A lot is riding on this, remember?"

"Got it," Justus says, giving my hand one last squeeze.

A soft chime interrupts our conversation, indicating that it's time for us to take our seats. Wilde strategically assigned us to seats near influential people, and we are supposed to make as many connections tonight as possible.

I'm on an upper balcony, seated by Governor Woods. E and I are already on good terms, but Sun thought it would be good for the two of us to be seen together to show that our state government is on good terms with our cause. Wilde also pointed out that I wouldn't accidentally piss anyone new off this way, either.

E is already seated when I find my assigned row, and she immediately introduces me to her chief strategist, policy officer, and crisis coordinator. Before we have any kind of serious conversation, the lights dim and a spotlight hits the stage.

To my surprise, it's Sun, not Wilde, who steps into the light. "Welcome. I'm Sun Liu, the co-director of Just Like Us. This show was born from hope—hope that I didn't know if I would ever feel again after Day Zero. That day, I was sure that nothing good could ever come from so much hate and violence.

"For weeks, all of us—Evolved and Throwback—mourned our friends, and the loss of a vision for our city and our country that was founded on justice. As for me, I wanted revenge. I'm not sure I have ever felt so angry or helpless. As I do at my lowest moments, I re-read the text that the original of my clone type is known for—The Art of War. I was looking for a strategy to strike back against all that we had endured.

"Instead, I found a passage that I had always overlooked. He said, 'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.' That is what we aim to do tonight. Let us subdue the hate without violence, and remember how alike we all are, if we can only take the time to see it."

The light goes out, and before the audience can react to Sun's words, the pilot of Just Like Us begins. I've watched a few scenes when they were being edited, but this is the first time I've seen an episode from beginning to end.

When I read the script, the lines often seemed cheesy and forced. I expected to cringe my way through tonight. But the reality of watching the finished show is a revelation. I expected a cheesy sitcom, but instead it's a real look at life in Seattle for Throwbacks. Threaded through the lives of our characters, there are scenes filmed in real Throwback spaces—dilapidated housing, the overrun hospital, and the rooms in the Lab where homeless Throwback kids lived on the scraps they could find or steal.

All of these spaces aren't shown to spark pity—they are simply a reality for our characters, the places where daily lives are lived. Next to me, E grips her seat with white knuckles.