Albatross
by sacredlilac
"Why can't you just tell us what you found?" Junko asked again as I waited for my co-workers from the rooms adjacent to mine to amble along the dim corridor and assemble outside the middle chamber of the the lowest level of the machine that kept our island in the sky.
I kept silent and pushed open the door. An ancient proverb, something everyone teased me about always studying, said, A picture is worth a thousand words. As we filed inside, their gasps told me it wasn't wrong.
The bright lights of the control panel directly beside the entryway flashed merrily on the tangled mass of plant tendrils that had filled the rest of the room, choking the cogs and belts that operated a section of the machine that ran the island's levitation mechanism.
"The plants..." began Junko.
"Have completely stopped the engine." I sighed and scrubbed at my scalp. "At least now we know why we've been having so many other problems lately."
Paulo looked shocked. "This would have taken years of growing to accomplish."
I nodded. "My guess is since Richard and Whetu's son went over the side. I don't know how they kept the greenery from messing the machine up before, but it has now."
Junko shook her head. "But that was five years ago! How could they have hidden this so long?"
"Richard and Whetu were married, I doubt they'd sell each other out." I looked around with raised brows. "Come on, I've certainly never been into any of your rooms, even for a quick hello. Everyone trusts that we want to remain in the sky and will do our jobs to keep us up here."
"But why would they want to crash the whole island?" Abeni asked. "That's murder. Where are they, anyway? And what happened to Ping and Amelia? They worked in this room too. Could they have been in on this, as well?"
We all glanced at each other guiltily then quickly away to focus on the greenery.
We often went in and out without seeing anyone for weeks on end. If someone was off sick we wouldn't know because once we were in our own chamber, we were sealed off for twelve hours oiling and inspecting and doing whatever was needed. None of us lingered after work, either. We wanted to get up to the fresh air as soon as possible.
A fresh gust of guilt filled me. It was stupid to feel somehow responsible, but of anyone to notice our co-workers had gone AWOL it was me, since I always stood at the Edge on the topside level for an hour after my shift to watch the other islands bob along in the Tethered polygon that served to keep them not crashing into one another and our 'country' all together.
Rain or shine, I needed to reconnect with the wide open sky, feel the wind in my hair and on my face after long hours closed in a stuffy little room.
Every now and then I'd catch sight of a jet-pack pilot zooming off like an arrow, arms tucked to their sides, air-sledge trailing behind with items for delivery. Their helmet visor revealed their beaming face as they flew uninhibited and unimpeded by the need to obey gravity on their way to another island, taking my heart with them.
Sometimes a co-worker would join me, but I couldn't say I ever took the time to notice who came and went from the door I stood a few feet away from.
"How did you find this, Farid?" Paulo asked.
"My wife wanted to invite everyone over for a dinner party. She says we've been too isolationist lately. I happened to come here first."
Frederica walked forward, looking in awed respect at the plants that had completely filled the room and twined their way through the intricate array of cogs and belts. "This is quite an amazing feat of horticulture actually. They've grown this in a room that completely lacks sunlight. How did they do it?"
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