“The Course registration form,” Anna explained to me. “It’s just a brief formality, as I mentioned earlier.”
Before I could respond, a shrill sound shattered the calmness of the room. Arthur’s phone rang. He looked at the device’s screen and let out a quiet sigh.
“Unfortunately, I must leave.” He gave me a mildly apologetic look and picked up a briefcase which hung from an arm of his chair. Then he swept toward the door.
But he paused at the threshold. I looked up to see his cool gaze pointed on me like an arrow. “I’m sure you’ll do excellently, Tani. We’re counting on you for that.”
I stared after him as he left the room.
Counting on me?
What did he mean by that?
I looked back at Anna when the door shut behind him. “Do you mind telling me what your father meant by that?” I asked.
She gave a shrug, her expression nonchalant as she scribbled her name at the bottom of the registration form. “It’s just, as I said earlier, that we’re a competitive family, and we have ambitions. Obviously, if you and I excel in the Course, we’ll both get significant financial kickbacks. And those kickbacks could be significant enough to mean the difference between my father overtaking Burchard as Chief Operations Officer this year, or not.”
I took a moment to process that information. I hadn’t been under the impression that Anna’s kickback would impact her father because, well, I thought that money would beAnna’s. But I saw the gleam of pride in her eyes when she talked about her father joining the top three elite of Fairwell—the “C-Suite”, as she’d called it—and wasn’t surprised that she apparentlyplanned to contribute whatever wealth she gained toward her father’s pursuit of glory.
And just a tiny fraction of whatever massive wealth they have could pull my family back together.It would be as simple as a transfer,a not-so-small voice in my head reminded me. And yet, there was no point in thinking it. Anna had made clear to me through her actions that I couldn’t expect any handouts from anyone here, not without strings attached. Even borrowing the relatively small amount required to get my parents into a decent hospital had cost me whatever this Course would entail… which was currently an unknown price.
“I see,” I replied quietly, my mouth feeling dryer than a moment ago.
“Do you have any known medical conditions, hon?” Anna asked, her pen’s tip still hovering over the registration form.
“N-No,” I replied. “Wh?—?”
“I didn’t think so, based on the results of your screening. It showed you’re in perfectly fit physical shape. I just asked to double-check, to be official.” She scribbled something more on the form, then pushed the piece of paper toward me along with a pen. “Alright, you can sign here, please.”
I first looked over the words she was asking me to write my name under.
“REGISTRATION FOR GICFF (General Induction Course for Founders of the Future),”read the headline.Next were two lines for writing down the full names of the “Mentor” and the “Mentee”, our ages, and our addresses, which Anna had filled in with block letters. She had written a cross mark next to“Any known medical conditions?”, and a tick mark next to a section which asked for confirmation that both Mentor and Mentee would make themselves available for the Induction Course’s starting date. The form did look quite basic, as Anna had indicated. Then my eyes fellon the final line:
“Both Mentor and Mentee agree to conduct off-island training.”
“What does that mean?” I asked Anna, pointing to it.
Her lips stretched into a grin. “Oh, that’s one of the best parts of this. We’regoingoutinto the Old World. What better way to prepare for Old World Isle?”
I stared at her. “You mean leaving Fairwell? And goingwherein the ‘Old World’?”
She nodded almost gleefully. “You’ll find out tomorrow. Be ready at 7 a.m.”
TWENTY-SIX
My body shiveredas I tried to fall asleep.
Out there.We were goingout there.
Before Fairwell, I had never known a life beyond the shelter of the treetops. To even think about how others might be living, ortryingto live, beyond the shelter of the jungles, had always been a horror to me. We had heard enough terrifying stories drifting through our colonies of what life was like outside, to last us a lifetime. Pictures of barren wastelands and deformed-yet-somehow-still-living bodies crowded my mind’s eye. The logical side of my brain tried to persuade me thateverythingcouldn’t be bad—just like Fairwell had managed to carve out a small haven for itself. But Fairwell was different. It was way out on the ocean, miles upon miles away from where disaster had struck and left a bloody heritage for centuries to come.
Imagining goingoutsidefelt like entering a nightmare. Entering the deep recesses of my imagination where I had always feared to tread—and always endeavored to escapewhenever another rumor came trickling through our colony that reminded me of life outside for the unprotected.
I now had a lifetime of rumors to haunt me, about what we could possibly be facing tomorrow, as I tried to fall asleep.
Of course, it was impossible. I sat up, rubbing my eyes hopelessly.
I hadn’t even spoken to Jessie about it yet, since by the time I arrived back at my house it had been close to 11 p.m. and I hadn’t wanted to risk waking her, in case she had managed to fall asleep. She hadn’t mentioned anything about an excursion, or anything out of the ordinary, happening for her tomorrow. Unless she just hadn’t been told yet when I last spoke to her.
