I stare at him, unsure whether to believe him or not. Short, blond hair sits on top of his head, tangled and flattened. His gray eyes are blank, except for a tiny hint of humor. His shoulders back, spine straight, chin up, he radiates cool confidence, the same confidence that The Distress always wore. He waits patiently for me to respond.
What do I say?
When I don’t say anything, The Distress says, “You know I would have caught you, had I not disappeared. You didn’t really escape me.”
I shrug, “I kind-of did.”
“No, no you didn’t. You were got lucky when I disappeared. That was not under my control. You escaped earlier and I caught you. I would have done the same again.”
“You caught me because I was attacked by the Ecru.”
Piper interrupts, “It’s lovely that you both know each other, but we really need to get going.”
We once again begin moving forward again. We turn a couple more corners before a long, straight hallway appears. Once we reach halfway through, there’s a sudden gap in the floor. A square of floor is pressed several inches downward.
Miranda says, “I forgot about that. This is going to be fun with the wheelchair.”
Piper says, “We’ll just have to lift them down and then back up again. I’ve never had to take an Eeke in a wheelchair before, so it will be more difficult.”
I ask, “Why is the floor like that?”
As Miranda and Piper slowly lift us downward, Miranda explains, “We used to use this hallway for a Rivie Test. It’s complicated to explain, but we used them to test the personalities of Rivies and which Pros they would be good for. But, now that all Rivies are sent through the Unknown, we don’t force the Eekes to do the Rivie Test. So, this hallway is no longer needed. Nobody uses it, except for Piper and the escaping children, of course.”
Piper lowers me to the ground with a lurch. She mutters sorry and lifts me back up on the other side. Miranda does the same with Tessa. Theo easily steps through the indent. As Piper begins pushing me back down the hall, I realize that there’s thin metal bar hanging above the pit, barely visible.
We turn another corner and I stare at the walls. They are ceiling to floor mirrors. I stare at my wrinkled clothes, my tangled hair. Tessa and Theo notice as well, staring at themselves and Miranda and Piper quickly hurry forward, unaffected by the mirrors.
We pass them and come to a door. Piper says, “We have to go through a small section of the Unknown first. If anyone asks, my name is Haley, okay?”
Miranda says, “Wait, I just need to do something quick.”
She begins rapidly typing into her Notice.
“You can’t tell anyone that we are leaving right now. We don’t know who could give us away, or even if the Notice system is completely safe.” Piper warns.
“I know, I’m just sending out a small explanation that will appear on everyone’s Notice tomorrow night. It’ll just be a goodbye to all and explain my disappearance, to strengthen the rumor of your escape. I can’t just leave them without saying anything.”
“Okay, tomorrow night should be safe. You’ll be long gone by then.”
Miranda traces her finger along the wall, “I can’t believe I’m finally leaving the Unknown. Fourteen years, almost fifteen of living in this place.”
Piper says, “I’ll get you a job where you can monitor the Unknown or something. You’ll never have to truly leave it.”
Miranda bitterly says, “I don’t know if I want to see an Unknown that’s being ruled by Christopher.”
YOU ARE READING
274 (Complex Series, #4)
Science Fiction-fourth book in the Complex series- Claire, known to most people only by her Complex number as 274, has always obeyed the Official's rules. You have to, unless you want to be sent away to the Unknown. Until, she meets Marie and everything changes. ...
