The Contestant

vii

The woman in front of Mave had a clipboard.

She wondered at the woman’s absence of a Spero SAED tablet. The woman was even using a pencil. She thought those had been outlawed as weapons years ago. Mave couldn’t help but gape when she saw the paper. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually had paper to write on. She had her hidden stash of real books, just the Harry Potter series. They were what got her in this mess in the first place. She loved those books, however and would never write on them. They were her only link to before.

The woman looked up when Mave entered. Though she looked business like in a crisp blue suit and pointy black shoes, she was holding a clipboard. She was writing on the paper with a pencil and Mave was terrified. She motioned at a chair in front of her. “Please, sit.”

Mave tried to smile and walked forward. As she did, the room, which had been a slate grey box only a moment ago, revealed itself to be a comfortable sitting room. It was as if the walls has slid into focus. As Mave looked around, she took in the legal woman’s appearance.

A nametag on her shirt proclaimed her to be Sharlene. She had small hands and well manicured nails which made look down at her grubby ones. The woman, Sharlene, smiled. “Don’t worry dear. Those will be fixed in processing.” She motioned to the seat again. “Don’t worry love, the seat won’t bite. Neither will I. I do have to insert your tracker, just above your number, that will hurt I’m afraid, but then we can have a cup of tea.”

Mave looked at Sharlene and wondered what world she had stepped into. “I don’t get it. I’m going in there to fight for my life because I broke the law.” Mave held out her hands in a helpless gesture. “Why are you all being so fucking nice to me?”

Sharlene’s mouth turned to a hard line. “Darling, I love that you have a fighting spirit, but please don’t sear in front of me. It’s vulgar” The line of her mouth relaxed and Mave saw that her bottom lip was full and her top lip thin. She wondered who this woman had been before the game?

Going to the wing back chair that sat in front of another, a fire place roaring out of a brick wall, Mave wondered about the Mad Hatter’s tea party. She wondered if she had stepped into it or if her life had just become this bizarre.

Smiling in earnest, Sharlene warmed towards her again. “That’s quite all right dear, in fact I expect it from someone in your position. I would be surprised if you weren’t swearing up a storm!” She sat down across from her, waving a hand. A small table appeared between them covered with a lace table cloth. A tea pot stood, steaming, on its surface. “Do you take sugar or lemon in your tea?”

Mave blushed. “Sugar.” She paused. “Thank you.”

“Quite welcome, dear.”

“The other room I came from was nice, too. Kind of like a glittery lounge.”

Sharlene grimaced. “I guess you don’t really know, do you?” She sighed and waved her hand, a cup of tea moving towards it, floating through the air as if it were made of nothing. “There you are dear.” She handed it to Mave directly.

“Thank you again.”

“Drink up, you’ll need it.” She waved her hand again and, instead of floating into it, the teacup was simply there, nothing one moment, there the next. “The point is, dear, the ones that swear don’t last too long. I don’t have enough to make up who they are-I can’t talk to them when they’re shouting, they’re no good to me that way. They go in and out just as quickly and it pains me so.” She took a demure sip of her tea.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Well, I am the legal department, or rather the head of it. I have to decide who you are, dear. I have to talk to you. We have some very personal things to discus. I would much prefer it if we could do it as friends, even the momentary sort. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had a conversation with someone. Almost all of the people that I’ve talked to show up here blubbering and crying or screaming for their mother-they never last very long; they never do.”