The Higher Define (2018)

9

The dinning area has no tables or chairs. It is simply the few hundred of us cramped together in an area as large as a hall. Since the dinning area is already so big to accomodate all of us, the other facilities are small. Or that is what Reyna tells me, anyway.

People seem to be in a foul mood today and no one has caught any game. Outside, a dark storm brews as ash grey clouds troop across the sky. There will be no sleeping directly under the sky tonight.

Dinner is a plate of clumped up rice that sticks to my plate, dry like the warm earth. We each get a cup that is filled to a quarter its size with tasteless soup that feels bland in my mouth. I pour what little soup there is over my rice so that the food goes down easier but it's still difficult to consume.

All through dinner, I can feel the four girls in my team staring at me. They're watching how I eat, taking note of my every action. I'm not sure if it's because they're suspicious or curious. But I can't have them keeping watch of me later. I need to read the files.

After dinner, Mr Anderson enters the room. Reyna informs me that Mr Anderson only joins the community for dinner when there is an important announcement to make. Usually, he's too busy to eat.

He stands in the middle of the room where the Corrupts have created a ring around him. Eyes scanning the surroundings and eyes grey with solmenity, he addresses us.

"We will having a emergency drill tomorrow. I want each team's leader to brief the teams tonight before everyone goes to bed. We need to be prepared for tomorrow's drill."

Emergency drill? I turn to Reyna but she ignores my steady gaze, almost as if she is hiding something.

With that, Mr Anderson leaves the dinning area and dinner is wrapped up. People start to stream out of the room and bodies squeeze past me. It's a terrible environment where I wait along with the members of my team for a good ten minutes until the room has enough space for us to clear out.

We stroll back to our room where someone has already brought a mat over for me. It is right underneath the window and I lie against the hard rubber material, feeling the coarse texture scratch against my skin.

"Aspen." It's Courtney, with her pajamas bunched up in her hand, "We're going to wash up. Come with us?"

"Erm," I look at my bag which sits between my legs and turn my gaze back to Courtney, "You four go ahead. I'm sure I can find my way around."

Courtney raises her brows but says nothing. As she leaves, she pulls the door back so it swings shut. I am left alone in the room with my thoughts. The first moment of peace since I came.

I pull out the file from my bag and flip open the cover. There are two pages worth of notes and the body of text is imprinted in tiny dark fonts.

Title of Mission: Elimination
Mission Number: #9633021

Participant Name: Aspen Heights

Mission details: The subject being tested requires diffusion. Find a way to spread it among the Corrupts and note your observations on how it affects them. Send weekly updates to Richard at [9633021_Report]
The item is located in the secret compartment stitched into your bag. Please consume the solution labelled 'Serum' before you pursue this mission.

I drop the file onto my lap and hurriedly pour through the bag's contents. There's a little stitching that I never noticed before- a thin thread that curves along an odd line. I pull at the thread with my nail and it gives in easily enough. Two small bottles fall out.

I pocket the one labelled 'Solution for Experiment' and quickly gulp down the one labelled 'serum'. Now I just have to find a way to transmit this solution, whatever it is.

I slip the bag over my shoulders after zipping it up and head out of the room, in search for the washing area. I don't trust anyone here enough to simply leave it lying unguarded.

There are street lamps which buzz with a dim light that guide me to where there is a line of girls that queue to wash up. They eye me wearily as I make my way to the front of the queue. Alice spots me as I weave my way towards her and gives me an excited wave.

"Aspen! Hey, we saved a spot for you!" She flashes me a bright smile as I duck into the empty space behind her, earning a few glares and hearing suppressed groans from behind.

"Is the queue always this long?" I ask.

Kayla looks over at me, amused as she answers my question, "It's actually supposed to be longer. There are twenty teams for each gender, right? Ten teams are assigned to wash up first while the other ten are given the first shift of night duties. When the first ten teams are done, they take over the shift."

"What duties do the teams do?" I ask.

"Two teams are assigned to one role. There are five roles- ensuring that the border of where we live are free of monsters and Defines, cleaning up the facilities that have been used for the day, checking on the resources that are stored in the main building and recycling the day's fried codes. The last role is going around and checking on everybody." Kayla says.

"What do you mean when you say 'recycle codes'?" The line starts to grow short and I move forward as a few girls come out of the tiny stalls. We have finally made it inside the small building assigned for washing and I try not to look disgusted by how unsanitray it seems.

This time, almost all the girls present in the room stare at me.

I said something wrong. Again.

"You are a fake Define, aren't you?" Reyna checks with me.

"Sure- I mean, yes." I quickly catch myself and glance away, suddenly feeling awkward for deciding to carry the bag all the way here. I'm going to stand out and gain more unwanted attention than necessary.

"Then you should know that there will always be a Corrupt's code that fries. Every day. It is our job to recycle the codes. We go to the jungle and dig a hole where we will bury the remains of the day's fried codes." Reyna says snappily. The feeling in my chest is like an ache but I can't stop myself when I ask, "Then how does your population not die off?"

Reyna's eyes grow beady and I pray that none of the Corrupts who have heard me caught what I said. Your population. I need to guard my tongue.

None of them seem to notice it, though. They slowly return to their routine of smacking against the shower stall door to yell at the person inside to hurry up, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Because," Reyna says through gritted teeth, "There are people like Spencer and the leaders of teams who go out to search for Corrupts abandoned on the street, who aid the Corrupts who have been kicked out of their homes when their parents dicover before Screening day that they are Corrupt."

My face goes white but I'm saved by a door that swings open, deeming the stall available for use. Reyna gives me one final stare before she stomps into the stall and slams the door shut.

Silence ensues.

Alice is the first one to break it. She turns to me, her lips still a line of friendliness. "Don't worry. She's usually not that mean."

My heart beats faster with this realisation. Because if Reyna's usually not that cruel, it can only mean one thing- she knows the truth about me.