Akropolis

The Secret (Part 2)

There were no other transports on the road this late at night. The only ones traveling at this hour would come from the center of the city where the council headquarters and the labs were...or if there were an emergency, and he couldn't for the life of him recall the last time there was an emergency.

There was little chance he would be spotted, and even if he was, by the time anyone came out to investigate he would be out of the transport and beyond the Wall.

Of course, there was always the possibility that transportation would revoke his travel privileges when his after-hours trip was logged, meaning he'd have to catch a ride to and from class with his dad every day for a couple of weeks.

That was something that while banal to the point of being torturous, paled in comparison to the disappointment he would receive from his father. Somehow that forlorn disappointed look cast his way, with the inevitable reference to 'if his mother were here', were more than enough to cast a pall over his rebellious nature and make Quentin swear to himself to not let it happen again.

But he always did...and he couldn't even say it was any other fault than his own, and while he would hold true to his own promise for as long as he could, the moment she called or messaged him in the middle of the night, he would be out the door no matter the consequence.

He wasn't sure what that would be called. He imagined a classmate or two would laughingly call it lust or some other diminutive expression that barely scratched the surface, and he was certain his psychology professor would label it obsessive, a physiological reaction to a subconscious urge or desire that could be characterized by the loss of his mother and the need to fill that void emotionally. His father might have called it 'love' once upon a time, but now he would just call it reckless.

Lately that seemed to be his reply to everything Quentin did that seemed the least bit rebellious or outside the norm. His father's paranoia grew daily and often Quentin would catch him staring out the windows apprehensively as if he expected to see security transports pull up in front of the house.

"That's enough of that," Quentin muttered.

Indeed it was. Traveling down that mental path tended to leave him in a quiet and contemplative mood that bordered on solemnity and depression. Those were emotions he was not willing to cater to at this point and time. Quentin preferred to focus on the feeling of excitement and anticipation that was bubbling just beneath the surface, the barely contained energy that reflected in the bobbing of his knee and the drumming of his fingertips against the armrest of the transport.

And again...there was her.

The transport began to slow. He had been traveling in the Outer Zone for a while now. The Wall had to be very close.

"Prepare for docking," said the female voice.

The transport pulled over to the side of the silent and dark street to the charging station. Quentin could hear the clamps as they took hold of the wheels.

"Destination is 2.1 kilometers away."

"Great," he said, and meant it.

The transport slowed until it finally came to rest. The soft blue glow intensified in the interior until he could see his reflection in the windshield. He used his fingers to comb through his hair, wishing he had taken a moment before leaving home to curb the angry cowlick that kept popping up on the side of his head.

The transport door opened. After glancing at his watch and realizing how much time had passed he practically leapt out running.

Quentin didn't worry about the noise anymore. In the outer zone only about half the houses were occupied and those residents cared little for attracting interest. Most of them were 'lifers', or those who had chosen to disconnect permanently from the Cloud.