Unmarked

54. Entering The Hive

My hands are clammy and I have to work hard to relax the muscle spasming in my jaw. In reality, I would be nervous if I was informing on Unmarkeds and rebellious activity, so the unease I can't get rid of shouldn't look out of place if anything, it's expected.

Walking through the main square with Teddy, I feel his fingers brush mine. He wants to hold my hand. He can't, not in front of his colleagues who occasionally greet him or nod in acknowledgement.

At the entrance of The State Headquarters, four officials stand guard, two hold the birth brand scanners.

An elderly official steps forward. "Good evening, Teddy."

"Good evening, Hans. I'm escorting her to an interrogation room," Teddy says.

"An interrogation room? I came forward voluntarily..." I stammer backing away as planned.

"They are the standard rooms we use to conduct private conversations." Teddy grabs my arm and so far the events are going exactly as we predicted.

"I came here to help The State. I'm not the criminal." I stutter, pulling away from Teddy, my eyes start to fill with tears. Considering I hate crying and try to avoid it, I'm pretty good at fake crying.

"Everything will be fine," Teddy says to me gently as I start to shake uncontrollably. He holds out his hand towards the scanner Hans is holding. "May I?"

Hans nods and passes the scanner over as we planned. We couldn't risk someone getting too close in case they recognised the fake marks and the stuck on Birth Brand. Teddy scans my fake Birth Brand and returns the scanner. Hans gazes at the screen. "Teddy, there seems to be a problem."

"Really?" Teddy frowns as his hand tightens on my arm. This was not part of the plan.

"Hannah Jeffery, my records show you are meant to be married by today as it's been three years since your engagement however no marriage has been registered." Hans looks at me.

"I got married this afternoon at our local Reflection Centre. I have all the papers at home. I can ask my husband to bring them in. We should already be on our honeymoon but at the wedding, I witnessed a guest..." I glance at Teddy not sure how to finish. Nothing I said matches the cover story Charlie gave me.

"Wait until we're inside," Teddy says, turning towards Hans. "She's here in regards to Unmarkeds. Would you like to follow up on the marriage confirmation or should I? I have her husband's contact details so I can ask him to bring any relevant documentation. Unless of course, you'd prefer to do it?"

"This is your case so I'll let you sort it out, but can you confirm with me once you've figured out what the problem is. I'll need to log an outcome on the system, otherwise my superior will give me grief." Hans taps the scanner.

"Of course," Teddy says.

"Where are you off on your honeymoon Madam?" Hans says to me.

"No idea. My husband is surprising me." I smile weakly.

"Wishing you and your husband a virtuous life together." Hans nods.

I nod with a forced smile.

"Come with me. I assure you everything will be fine." Teddy gestures ahead of us and I enter into a large lobby.

The gold and green Officials standing guard are a stark contrast against the never-ending white. White walls and tiles make the room look infinitely big. If it weren't for the large circular gold light hanging from the ceiling and one large metal circle positioned on the wall, it would be impossible to know where the room ends.

Teddy pushes me towards two metal detectors located in the middle of the space. I look at the floor suddenly aware of the USB device tucked under the band of my bra and digging into my skin.

Stepping through the metal detector it beeps loudly. A woman Official steps forward and starts to pat me down. I try not to wince as her hands pass over my fake brands and marks.

"How are the kids doing, Ally?" Teddy says.

"They are well. The oldest daughter got engaged last weekend."

"Congratulations. Isn't your son due to get married soon?"

"Next month. The whole thing is getting ridiculous, 400 guests. Who even knows that many people? They want to pay for everyone to get a personalised mark so they're looking at hiring several mark makers. In my day, it was a simple pure affair, none of this showing off. It's not right, the values of our society are not what they used to be."

"I heard modesty is one of the values The State is looking to reinforce. You should ask your Reflection Overseer to discuss the topic with your son and future daughter in law. You wouldn't want their marriage to start off on a bad note."

"I know." The woman huffs. She hasn't looked at me once which is good because if she did she'd quickly realise all my marks are fake. "When's your wedding date set for, Teddy?"

"Three months. We're getting married exactly three years after our engagement."Teddy smiles. "Is your daughter's fiancé local?"

"He lives a few hours from here. Very good prospects, we made sure to find someone who would ensure she has a comfortable life." She continues to pat me down but she's barely acknowledged my presence.

"You've always been a good judge of character, Ally, I'm sure she'll be extremely happy." Teddy pats her on the shoulder and Ally smiles broadly stepping back.

"You're wasted out here, Ally, you really need to push for a promotion. We could use someone like you in our division.' Teddy smiles.

A flicker of pride crosses Ally face before she tries to hide it, she likes compliments.

Teddy directs me through a set of doors and we ascend a flight of stairs.

"You were very convincing back there with the whole wedding bit," He whispers.

"Did you not think to check her records? What's going to happen when Hans wants an update?"

"She'll be registered as dead tomorrow so it won't matter if she's married or not anymore. Anyway, it works in our favour, it gives me a more legitimate reason to leave you for a bit in the interrogation room." Teddy shrugs. "Who even does that anyway? Kill themself the day before they're meant to be married."

"Someone who is deeply unhappy. Maybe she was lied to," I mutter. I grit my teeth until I blurt out, "You told me you'd only been engaged for six months, then back there you said it will be three years in three months. You said you'd never kissed her, how could you have been with your fiancé for that long and not kissed?"

I don't know why this piece of information bothers me so much. I should be focussed on where we're going, inspecting my surrounding but everything looks the same, blank white floors merging with equally empty white walls.

"I may not have been completely truthful about the not having kissed her but it got you to kiss me so I don't have any regrets," Teddy says softly.

"No regrets?" I say flatly.

"Not about kissing you. I have others such as not telling you who I was. I nearly did several times but it would have ruined everything."

Ruined what exactly? Whatever was happening between us would never work. It's another comment which I can add to the pile which indicates Teddy is either delusional or doesn't quite grasp the seriousness of my situation. It will hit home once I'm hanging from a platform. I just hope for my sake it doesn't come to that.