Clockwork Catastrophe

Chapter 3

"What do you know about the Watchmaker?" Katrina asked her friends as they as they rode their bikes. It had been a couple of days since the breakfast incident.

Mallory glanced to the side. "Aren't we supposed to not talk about him?"

"But why not?" Katrina countered. "No one knows anything. He is supposedly the one who built the city of Mercy, but that is all anyone knows."

"He also lives in the Tower," Luke offered.

"Oh, really?" Mallory said sarcastically.

"Yeah," said Luke. "That forbidden place."

"That is not enough, though," Katrina insisted. "He is supposed to be very important, but he is also..." She couldn't find a fitting word. "Unknown. Hidden from us. Locked away in his tower. He never comes out."

Mallory rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous, Katrina. Mercy is perfect and that's all that matters."

"Yeah," said Luke. "Why should it matter?"'

Katrina huffed. "Because no one knows. I want to know."

"I suppose you're out of luck, then," said Mallory. She picked up the speed and raced ahead, forcing Luke and Katrina to catch up, leaving no more room for discussion.

"Where did the name Mercy come from?" Katrina asked. She spooned some mush in her mouth; she was eating dinner with her family.

Father looked up from his plate of mush. "Clarify, please."

"I mean," Katrina added, "Why is the city of Mercy called Mercy? What does Mercy even mean? It cannot merely be random syllables that the Watchmaker came up with one day."

Mother and Father glanced at each other uneasily. They weren't supposed to talk about the Watchmaker; they never asked these kinds of questions.

"Stop rambling about the Watchmaker and eat your food," ordered Mother. "You are well aware that we are not to speak of him."

"But why?" insisted Katrina. "What's so bad about his name?"

Father grew exasperated. Work tired him too much to enable him to deal with pointless questions. "If you argue again, you will be sent directly to your room for the night. Period."

Katrina sighed. Maybe she can get them to listen to her after dinner, when they socialized in the family room.

Owen cooed, causing Katrina to smile. She reached over to stroke his hair.

"No touching at the dinner table," Mother warned.

Katrina pulled her hand back. Now she started to worry. Obeying orders has been becoming more and more difficult lately. It should have been easy. So why is it not easy?

Everyone had gathered in the living room. Mother and Father occupied the couch, Katrina sat in the rocking chair, and Owen played with toys on the floor.

Mother was droning on about some fun she had had with their next door neighbor earlier, purchasing new appliances that were slightly different than most standard appliances that everyone in the city owned. "They must be improving their designs," Mother speculated, referring to the engineers working in the Tower. They were the ones responsible for designing everything. Those designs went through a process, dictated by the System, in order to be created and delivered to the shops for the citizens to purchase when needed.

Katrina waited impatiently for Mother to finish. "So," she began. Her parents looked at her. "I have been wondering about the Watchmaker. Why is he so unknown and hidden from us?"

Mother set her jaw and looked at Katrina with hard eyes. "You were warned not to ask those kinds of questions. Go to bed."

"But-"

"Now."

Katrina let out an abrupt scream, shocking her, her parents, and Owen. Only small children screamed. Older children were expected to be much more civilized, obedient, and in control of themselves. And yet here is Katrina, losing control, not understanding why.

Katrina looked back and forth at her parents. They stared back, unmoving. Then she turned and ran to her room. She felt her face grow hot and her palms grow sweaty. Her heart beat against her chest. In her mind, she yelled at herself over and over, questioning why she did that, why she can't behave normally, telling herself to act normal, questioning, telling, yelling. She'll be regarded as crazy now for sure. She can no longer fit in.

And yet her mind still burst with unanswered questions, despite these brand new emotions surging through her. She needed answers. But where to find them?

Tomorrow, she thought as she finally began to calm down and drift off to sleep. Tomorrow I go to the Watchmaker's Tower.