Mimmi sat staring once more around her bedroom. She’d packed a bag full of her most precious belongings, but it wasn’t much. She’d been told that she would be provided with clothing and everyday needs at the tower, but for now she wore her best dress. It was silvery with blue accents, and her dark brown hair fell down normally around her shoulders. She had done her eye makeup importantly, but she knew it would probably end up being ruined before the day ended. Still, she’d also been told that she could see visitors once a week, and she was sure she’d make friends since there were other teenagers among the dancers.
For a moment, she recalled the tryout in her mind. Her mother had driven her up to the next town where the officials from the Royal City were. She was judged on her health, her personality, and her ability to dance. Those were the requirements to be in the Royal Dance Teams. Mimmi had known how to clog since she’d known how to walk, so she had tried out for the Hummingbirds, which was the clogging team. The other team was the Swans, which was ballet. She’d gone from judge to judge, eventually tying on her battered white shoes and tearing through a fiery routine she’d put together.
A few days afterward, they had gone to check the messages and found that there was one addressed to Mimmi. “It’s for you. Maybe it’s from the Hummingbirds!” Her father had said in the type of tone fathers use to bring hope to their kids’ impossible dreams. She’d been telling herself not to get her hopes up, but part of her was crossing her fingers tightly. The small, silvery box nearby glowed to life, projecting words onto the wall:
“Congratulations, you have met the standards required of the Royal Hummingbirds. You will be picked up from your city by monorail train on the twentieth of April at exactly 4:00 pm and transported to Bird Tower in the Royal City.”
Now, it was April 20th, and she was almost ready to leave for the monorail station. Once more, she looked into the bag she held. Inside, there was a small scrapbook of photos of her friends and family, a tiny pair of clogging shoes that had been made for her by a metalworking friend before he moved away, and a book about what America was like before the limited monarchy. There was also a one inch tall stuffed dog that she had played with as a child, and now she used it for decoration. “Mimmi, are you ready?” Her mother called from downstairs. “Yes, I’m coming!” Swiftly, she descended the stairs and the three of them walked out to the car.
“We promise we’ll come to all the festivals, and we’ll visit you whenever we can!” Her mother exclaimed, half sad and half excited. “This is so amazing!” Mimmi replied. “I can’t believe I’m a Hummingbird.” “Well, you’ve been dancing for so long, and you’re so dedicated.” Her father replied. “What were the other requirements?” Her mother wondered aloud. “It was health, personality, and ability to dance.” Mimmi replied. Her parents smiled. “I’m sure you breezed through those!” Her mother said. “We’re here!” Her father exclaimed as if he knew about a surprise that Mimmi was clueless about.
As they all entered the monorail station, Mimmi saw a small crowd over by a bench. After a few moments, she realized she recognized those faces, and a few of them held signs saying things like “Good Luck!”, “We’ll Miss You!”, and “We’ll Be Watching You!” Silhouettes of dancing girls and hummingbirds decorated the signs. Her two little cousins ran out from the crowd and attacked her with hugs. “Mimmi, don’t leave!” Her youngest cousin, Samson whimpered. “Mimmi has to leave so she can dance in the festivals!” Samson’s sister, Frida replied. “Mimmi, I told him you’re going to be on TV but he doesn’t believe me!” “Well, Samson, maybe you can visit me someday in the Royal City, and yes, I am going to be on TV!”
The little boy was wide-eyed with amazement. Just then, Mimmi’s friend January ran to hug her. “I’m going to miss you! I’ll look for you on the next festival!” “I’ll miss you too!” Mimmi replied, tears finding their way into her blue-green eyes as she pulled away to be embraced by aunts, uncles, grandparents, and more friends. “Will you be in the Summer Solstice Festival? It’s already April.” Someone inquired. “We’ll have two months to practice. I think I’ll probably be in it.” She replied. “Look, the train’s here!” Her mother exclaimed. Sure enough, a short monorail train with the symbol of the Royal City on the side was pulling up.
A man dressed in a gray outfit with a sword and a red, white, and blue sash exited the train and turned toward Mimmi and her crowd. “Mimmi Grande?” He called in a strange monotone. “Yes sir,” She replied excitedly. After embracing her friends and family one last time, she walked towards the train and the man. Close up, she noticed that there was almost no emotion in his eyes, and his skin looked strangely flawless. “Good afternoon.” He greeted before showing her to her seat on the train. Immediately she turned towards the window and waved to her crowd. Suddenly, she saw her mother drying her eyes on a tissue, and Mimmi couldn’t help but begin to tear up softly herself. Then, the train began to move, and she slowly regained herself as she looked out at the distant Blue Ridge Mountains that seemed to also be sending her off.
Eventually, she began to grow bored so she decided to talk to the guard. “Why am I the only one on the train?” She inquired. The man turned his head with an almost hydraulic motion. “Your city is the furthest away, so the train began with you and will pick up the rest on the way back to the Royal City.” “Oh, how many of us are there?” She asked. “Seven girls made it between the two teams. All of them are under eighteen.” The guard replied. “Hmm… thank you.” She replied. “Anytime,” The guard answered before pivoting his head to look forwards. For awhile, Mimmi just sat staring out the window at the beautiful scenery. Then, the monorail came to a stop and the guard stood to escort someone else onto the train. Looking out of the window, Mimmi saw a girl who looked about her age with golden brown hair approach the guard and eventually enter the monorail.
The girl sat behind Mimmi, on the other side of the bench, and Mimmi remained silent for awhile as they sped away. Eventually, she turned to look behind her, and the other girl did the same. “Hello.” The girl greeted her good-naturedly. Mimmi smiled. “Hi, do you want to sit over here?” She’d been dying for someone to talk to other than the guard without a personality. “Sure, thanks.” The girl obviously felt the same as she cautiously moved to sit by Mimmi. When they settled down, the girl spoke once more. “My name is Kelsi.” She said quietly. “I’m Mimmi.” Mimmi replied. They sat in silence for awhile, watching the scene outside, before Mimmi broke the silence. “Which team are you?” She asked. “Hummingbirds.” Kelsi replied. “Me too!” Mimmi exclaimed. “Oh, awesome!” Kelsi replied with glee.
They conversed for a long time, telling about their homes and making each other feel much less lonely. They were the same age, fourteen, and both had always loved to dance. Eventually, the guard left to escort another dancer. In his absence, Mimmi leaned close to Kelsi. “Is it me, or is that guard really weird?” She whispered. “Of course he is. He’s an android.” Kelsi answered. Mimmi’s eyes widened. “He’s an android?” She said, no longer whispering. “Yes, didn’t they tell you? All the guards are robots.” Kelsi replied. Just then, he reentered the monorail train and the girls changed the subject.
Hours passed by, and more and more girls boarded the train. Eventually, a voice came over a speaker above their heads. “Attention new dancers, the monorail train is now crossing into the Royal City. In a moment, you should be able to see Bird Tower and the palace of King Marcos. Enjoy the rest of your ride!” Excited murmurs broke out around the train before Kelsi suddenly exclaimed “I see it! There’s Bird Tower!” Sure enough, over the trees Mimmi could see a multitude of skyscrapers. Among them, there was a shining tower with two distant statues on top, one of a hummingbird and one of a swan. Bird Tower was called that because of the bird names given to the teams who lived and practiced there, and that was where they would all spend the next few years.
As they drew nearer to the shining city, Mimmi saw a huge mansion-like house with flags adorning the roof, the palace. Then, they finally reached their last monorail stop and were met by two lines of android guards, with a sort of path between them. The dancers exited the train, and the guards turned to create a protective wall around them. As they walked out, Mimmi took in her surroundings. The station was packed, and there were news cameras and reporters there filming their arrival. In the past years, she’d seen the news broadcasts of the new Hummingbirds and Swans arriving, so she wasn’t very surprised by this. When they’d all exited, the guards walked with them to Bird Tower before branching off toward the palace when they got to the base of the enormous skyscraper.
When they entered, they reached a huge lobby with doors, elevators, and a spectacular fountain that had a flame at the top of it among the dancing water. Out of a pair of doors came a woman with a short bob of whitish blonde hair and a green and blue outfit. She smiled a sort of unsettling smile that seemed welcoming and crazy at the same time. “Welcome to Bird Tower! I hope your journey went well, and I would like to congratulate each and every one of you on receiving this high honor. To begin, we will do a quick backup check, tour the building, and then we will go over the rules. Afterwards, you will be given your room assignments, have some time to settle in, and then we will have supper.”
A serious man in a green suit appeared from the hallway. The woman spoke once more. “My name is Jane Vosco, and this is Dr. Greene. He is our resident doctor, of course, and I am in charge of everything that goes on in Bird Tower. Please line up, youngest to oldest.” She called out the different ages, and Kelsi and Mimmi found themselves at the front of a seven girl long line that ended with a seventeen-year-old. “You will not be dancing tonight. There will be plenty of time to judge that later. For now, we will check to make sure none of you snuck in here.” Though a few girls smiled at this remark, Jane had said that quite seriously. “Kelsi Hart,” Jane said plainly, summoning Kelsi into a room with a sign saying “Infirmary”.
A moment passed, Kelsi exited, and Jane called out “Mimmi Grande”. In response, Mimmi entered the room. They directed her to the center of the room, and Jane began to circle her like a beast circling its prey. “Hmm… long legs… lean figure…” She placed a hand on Mimmi’s face and lifted her chin. “Hmm… your hair is in decent shape. Your eyes are interesting… smile at me.” Mimmi grinned, and Jane tilted her head. “Your teeth are mostly straight. I’d say you are fair looking… but I guess your dancing will keep you alive in here. Now, check her out, Doctor.” The doctor sat her down, checked her eyesight, reflexes, and things of that nature. After sticking her finger to check her blood, he said “She’s alright!” in an odd monotone, and they sent her from the room.
A few moments passed, and Jane took them up one floor to a hallway with doors on each side. “These are the rooms in which you will practice. We have choreographers who will instruct you in here tomorrow morning after breakfast.” She took them up to the hallways where their apartments were, explaining “These are your living quarters. Each room holds two people, so you will have a roommate later tonight. They are equipped with fine beds, bathrooms, televisions, and video call devices that you can use to communicate within this building.” She also took them to the dining hall, and to a large room with a smaller, round room in the middle. There were windows going around it, and a locked door leading inside, but curtains had been drawn to cover the windows. “You will learn more about this room when we go over the rules.” Jane was speaking seriously again. “We call this the ‘discipline chamber’.”
After they had finished up, they retreated back into the lobby where Jane suddenly looked more serious than ever, and Mimmi was beginning to feel unnerved. “Now, I will explain the rules to you. If you forget any of them, they are written down in booklets you will find in your rooms. However, they are fairly simple, so I don’t expect there will be much trouble remembering them.” She paused, scanning over the room to make sure everyone was listening, and continued. “As you know, the Royal Dance Teams possess a very pristine reputation, and these rules are meant to maintain it.” At that moment, a list appeared on the wall behind her, and she read the rules aloud:
Rules of Bird Tower and the Royal Dance Teams:
#1: Dancers must be respectful towards their superiors
#2: Dancers must be young, strong, and attractive
#3: Dancers must be talented enough to impress
#4: Dancers must not interact with anyone outside the tower unless supervised by a guard
#5: Dancers must smile during performances
#6: Dancers must obey their superiors
#7: Dancers must not fall in love
After she had read these aloud, Jane turned to the dancers and continued. “There are some of these rules that are more minor than others. Rule number seven is a tricky one. You may or may not fall in love while you are here, but if you are caught acting on it, you will be punished. There are two punishments that result from failure to live by these rules. Breaking rules 1, 4, and 6 will result in use of the discipline chamber. Inside that room, the offending dancer will be flogged twenty times on the legs, and I can assure you that this flogging is extremely painful.” As she spoke, Mimmi detected something in her voice that she could only recognize as wickedness. When the woman opened her mouth again, she looked quite frightening. “Breaking rules 2, 3, 5, and 7 will result in elimination.” After that, she didn’t explain anything else about that punishment.
The rule list disappeared, and Jane clapped her hands together. “Now, you will be given your room assignments!”