Outcast: A Corporation Novel (The Corporation) (23 page)

Karis

I open the door enough so I can slip through, closing it behind me with my foot. Adami is sitting up in bed, his legs slung over the edge. His fingers grip the side of the mattress next to his knees. His head is bent over and I watch his shoulder blades rise and fall with his breaths. In this form, he looks entirely fragile.

“You should be lying down,” I say quietly.

There's something about him, something I can't quite place, but it tells me that I can trust him; that we’re allies. In what, I'm not yet sure. He looks as worn and defeated on the outside as I feel on the inside; but at the same time, determined and capable of winning. I like that about him. I want to believe that that's the thing we have in common.

“I've been lying down for what feels like months.” He straightens up and starts to rotate his arms and shoulders with a small pinch of pain on his face. He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “I could use a shoulder rub.” He meets my stare with a snag of a smile.

My eyes go wide only an instant before I lower my chin and give him the same look I gave Ajna whenever he would ask me for something so ridiculous it was obvious it was never going to happen.

“Too soon, huh?” He lets out a puff of air I think is supposed to be a laugh. “I just thought, with all the time we've been spending together...”

I move forward and sit in the chair that's still near the night stand. “Here,” I say, handing over the bland smelling broth.

“Thank you.” He reaches out for the pottery.

“I snuck you some of this, too.” I put the tear of bread in his palm.

His eyebrows raise and he looks at me, another small smile. It looks good on him. Like it fits, like it's well worn. I think, for him, he's always wearing a smile, probably. “
Thank you.
”

“Just don't tell Papa or Eta, I'll never hear the end of it.”

“I will carry this secret to my grave.” He holds the bread to his chest. He dips it in the liquid and lets it sit while we talk. “Thank you, Karis, for taking care of me.”

I shrug off his compliment. “It's no problem.” I finger the fabric of my dress. “Could you really hear
everything
I said to you?”

“Everything.”

I don't like the way he says the word; as if I should be embarrassed.
Should I be?
I try to quickly go through the inventory of what I vented about. Yes, there were several things I said I should be embarrassed about. My ears warm as blood rushes to them, I’m sure turning them red, too. I was far from nice to him, in the beginning. I'm suddenly ashamed that I took all my hostility and resentment out on him.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” I say, “about what I said about you…” I trail off.

Adami chuckles. “Don't be embarrassed,” he says, reaching out to squeeze my hand. The gesture feels strangely normal. “It let me get to know the real you. I feel like we're good friends already.”

“Except that I know nothing about you.”

“We have plenty of time for that.” He dips his spoon into the soup and scoops up a piece of soggy bread. He puts it to his mouth and closes his eyes in satisfaction. “Mmmmm.”

“Oh, come on. It can't be all that good.”

He opens one eye, half savoring the treat. “When you've been living on bland broth for as long as I have, this tiny scrap of bread is like heaven.”

“Well I'm glad I stole it for you, then.”

He eats a few more bites. “Time's running out, so we’d better act quickly.”

His words catch me off guard. “What are you talking about?”

“Getting your brother back; now that that Ethan character’s gone, he can’t stop us. That is what you've been talking to me about the entire time. Well, that and
Ethan
. He’s not right for you, you know. Not nearly good enough.”

My cheeks burn a little. “He’s not all that bad. There are a lot of good qualities to him. He’s funny and caring. But the good never come out when you’re angry.”

“Still,” he takes another bite. “No one should make you feel the way you told me you were feeling. But back to the plan of getting your brother.”

“It's not that easy,” I say after a pause. “I can't just go into the Inner City and bring him back.” Ugh. I'm sounding too much like the person I was so mad at.

“Why not? You did it before.” He takes a bite of soggy bread and flavorless broth. He closes his eyes and savors whatever flavor might be present.

“That's because the Corporation—Akin—didn't know I was coming.”

“Are you sure about that?” He says it like he knows something I don't.

“I'm not sure about anything when it comes to the President, but I do know it won't be as easy this time around.”

“So you find another way in.”

“Easier said than done. I have questions, lots of them.” My eyes flit down to my Mark and my fingers absently brush against the ink. Completely useless, now.

“About that?” Adami juts his chin out towards my wrist.

“Among other things,” I say.

“That’s your Mark, right? The one that doesn’t work the way it should anymore? Is it important?”

I let a puff of air escape through my nose with an unimpressed laugh. “Important? Maybe for the Corporation, but not for us. They tell us it is, but that’s a lie.”

“If it's a lie, then why do you all have them?”

“No one knows it’s a lie.” I sigh. “They control us. It's a long story.”

He puts his hands up, putting his bedridden position on display. “And I have nothing but time, you might as well fill me in.”

“Okay,” I say, surprised at how easily I agree.

I tell him about how the Corporation was left over from
The Corporation
from Before, the one that helped stabilize and organize our world after it fell down around us. They helped tame the only viable area for us to inhabit. I tell him about the Biodome and how it protects us from the acidic air out in The Further and harsh seasons. That our Marks carry all of our information and DNA and tell us what we're genetically best to be in life. And then I tell him about the lies. That the Marks don't do any of those things and the Corporation has been lying to us all along, that it's just another one of their ways to control us and manipulate us.

“Up until we found out the truth, we thought we shared the same history as everybody else, every other city. That's what we were told. But apparently,” I reach out to his arm, to turn it over, but stop short, never touching his skin, “apparently, it isn't.”

“I've only ever seen those here.” His finger traces my Mark, causing goose bumps to sprout over my skin.

“Here?” My voice is a little surprised. “You've been to other places?”

“Of course I have. You don't think Neech and Dahn are the only cities that survived, do you?”

“Well...”
Did I?
We were never told about any other place, we were led to believe that it was only us and death everywhere else. The more I think about it, the stupider I feel and the angrier I get. Of course we aren’t the only cities in existence. Of course there are others and of course the Corporation would want to keep that from us, to keep us better reigned in and to keep us from leaving.

“It's okay,” Adami says softly, knowing he must have stumbled onto something sensitive. “Hey, I get it. It's not like this Corporation of yours wants you to know the truth.”

His words made me think of something else. “So, the Corporation's reach doesn't extend to where it is you're from?”

He waits a little before answering. “Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?

“They don't rule us or govern us or really know we exist, but we know about them. They're trying to spread their reach, and we try to stop them.”

“We?”

“Well yeah, you didn’t think I was the only one living out in the Wasteland, did you?” He gives a half laugh to himself.

“What's the name of where you're from?”

“Nagar.” He says the word in a lonely way.

“Do you miss it?”

“I suppose. It's the place I've lived at the longest, so I know it best.”

“Do you have people there worrying about you?”

“I have my mom, but I doubt she's worrying about me.” He chuckles. “I cause more headaches and trouble than anything else, so she's probably glad I've stepped out for a bit. But she knows I'm okay. What about you?”

“Papa's the only one I have left here with me.”

“You have Ethan,” he says with a lifted brow. He sets the empty bowl on the side table.

“That's been…” I try to search for the best word and settle on, “…complicated.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Like I said, complicated.”

“Probably about as much as you think it is.”

I don't offer a reply.

“So let's go back to these Marks. Everyone gets one—”

“—When we're eight.”

He nods. “They tell you what you're genetically best at and who you're genetically optimal to be Paired with.”

“You listen well.”

“And yours is broken?” He sounds a bit amused.

“Or fixed. I guess it depends on how you look at it.”

“Either way, it's a dangerous spot to be in.” I can feel him watching me from the corner of my eye. “When you were babbling at me—”

“—I didn't babble, I was comforting you.”

He doesn't stop. “When you thought I wasn't listening, you never explained to me
how
it broke.”

He certainly does ask the right questions the first time around. “I got this sickness, the altered Mark I got in the Black Market was faulty, it was breaking down my body. Apparently, faulty Marks were created by the Corporation as a way of stopping citizens who could potentially cause issues for them.”

“Ouch, that’s harsh.”

“Tell me about it, I almost died. If it wasn't for someone in Dahn who gave us the remedy, I would have. I got better, and then everything was different.”

“So what does that mean?”

“I don't know, really. But to be honest, I have no idea where to even start.”

“I think you should start where it all began. With where you got the faulty Mark.”

“Bak?” That was genius, but not an option. “He's not here. It was a set up. He's in the Inner City.

“Is he?”

“Of course.”

“Have you checked?”

“I don't need to, he's not there.”

“Have you checked?”

“No.”

“Well, then we will. Tonight.”

“It's pointless, he won't be there.”

“Then there's no harm in checking.”

“There's a lot of harm in checking.”

“You want answers?”

“Of course I do.”

“He's the only one that has them.”

Adami is right. “You're not going with me.”

“Of course I am going with you. I'm done staying in this room. Plus, I need to work out my legs they've shrunk to an embarrassing level.”

“Lies. Eta said your body’s muscle retention was remarkable.”

I think it over. Company would be nice. Especially in that part of Neech. The Black Market would have moved, but Bak did live there. It was worth a shot. “Fine,” I finally say. “But you have to do what I say no matter what.”

“Hey, I'm just along for the ride. Let's get started.”

There’s a knock at the door and I hear Papa’s footsteps continue on down the hall. Time to get to bed. “Not tonight. It's late and you've only just woken up. You need a bit more of your strength back before I risk my safety taking you anywhere.” I smile a little.

“Ouch,” he says, then smiles, too. “But true. You've got yourself a deal, Karis.”

“Good. Now, sleep.”

He settles down into the mattress. “When?”

“Soon. Goodnight.”

Ethan

We've been walking for the better part of a couple of hours, and I hate to admit it, but my cushy life in Dahn, has made me soft. I'm ready for a rest and we haven't walked for more than a few hours total. Dhevan hasn’t really said much to me, as far as conversation goes. Which I wouldn’t mind, normally, except that leaves me with only Raj as an alternate.

The muscles in the arch of my foot begin to cramp. I try to push through it, but eventually my gait takes on a shuffle. Then a hobble. Then a limp. I look over my shoulder, somewhat awkwardly. Neech looks like a scale model. I turn around and stop walking, not missing that Dhevan and Raj continue on. I cock my foot to try and release the cramp, measuring the height of the city between my thumb and forefinger while squinting one of my eyes. It's about a few inches. Walking the amount of distance to make the city that small deserves a rest, in my opinion.

“Oy, Dhevan!” I holler as I turn back around. He keeps walking. “Dhevan!” I refuse to run to catch up, but I do pick up my pace, only because the cramp has lessened.

“What?” Dhevan says.

“We need a rest.”

“No, we don't.

“Alright, fine.
I
need a rest.” Guess Dhevan isn't much of one to help keep a fellow man's pride intact. I hate to ask for it, but it’s getting near impossible for me to continue. Why couldn’t Raj have wimped out first?

“So rest. Raj and I will keep going.”

Raj smirks a bit. A bug has obviously crawled up his nose and died—or some other equally horrid event. He’s being meaner than normal.

“While you two continue on?” I say.

“You’re the one who kept insisting we put as much ground between us and the cities as possible. Besides,” he pats the water containers hanging at his side, “I'll be fine.”

“Man alive,” I swear under my breath. “You'd leave me here? What is
wrong
with you?” He can’t possibly, actually, hate me that much.

“Yes, I would leave you here. Stopping when we don't absolutely have to wastes time. Time wasted is a delay in our journey. A delay in our journey is more time away from my Pair.”

I can't help but snigger a little bit. “A delay in your journey is time away from your Journey.” I don't know why it's funny. Apparently, neither does Dhevan. Raj finds it somewhat amusing with a quiet-ish snort.

Dhevan whirls on me, his face hard and impassive, like it gets when he has to slaughter one of his cows. “We can't afford to stop, Ethan. We need to find shelter and resources.”

“But look, Dhevan, we've already come a long way.” I turn away and sweep my arm across the Further to show him how far behind us Neech is. But I can't. “It's gone,” I say.

“What's gone?”

“Neech.”

“That's impossible. We've just gone farther than you thought and it's so small it's barely noticeable. Especially in the dark.”

I shake my head. “No. I just saw it. It was this big.” I hold up the space between my fingers. “I walked a few more yards, turned around, and now it's gone. An entire city can't just disappear in three yards.”

Dhevan’s quiet. “I guess we haven't walked so far that Neech would be
completely
out of sight.”

I roll my eyes and look up towards the cloudless sky. Something catches my eye amongst the stars. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Dhevan and Raj's gaze follow mine.

“Up there, in the sky. It looked like a spark.”

He raises his brows in doubt. “A spark? In the sky?”

“There it is again.” My hand shoots up into the air as I point in the general direction of where I saw the strange light.

“I don't see anything, Ethan. C'mon. Let's get moving.” As he turns to go, he stops, squinting his eyes. “I think…”

“No, he’s right,” Raj says. He’s chosen the right time to start speaking again. “I saw it, too.”

Another spark ignites in the sky. “See!” I all but shout.

“Yeah, I saw it.”

Then another pops. And another. Before we know it, a dozen sparks explode in the dark sky. We throw our arms over our heads, to protect us from what, I'm not sure. Then, the strangest thing happens. The air in front of us starts to jerk in and out, like bad reception on a databoard. And for a second, Neech is visible again. Then it's gone, the sparks along with it.

“Did you see that?” I ask.

“What is it?” Dhevan says.

“I don't know, but when it happened, we could see Neech. Which means, there's something hiding it from us.”

“But what? I don’t see anything.”

“Exactly.” I start to walk forward with slow, deliberate steps.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Raj asks, irritably.

“What are you doing?” Dhevan stands his ground. “Stop messing around.”

“I'm not messing around; I'm investigating.” I stretch my arms out in front of me and feel the air as I walk. I can't be sure, but I'm fairly confident I feel
something
there. It seems thicker, if that’s even possible. “Come here,” I say over my shoulder.

Dhevan sighs, but he comes. Raj follows. They stand, one on each side, their shoulders next to mine. In a voice that lets me know he's irritated, Dhevan says, “What?”

“Do you feel this?”

“No.” His voice is deadpanned.

“Stick your arms out, like this.” I grab his right arm and stick it out. He jerks it free and scowls at me.

“I'm capable of doing it myself.”

“What is it about me that brings out the worst in you?” I ask, shaking my head.

“What am I supposed to be feeling here, Ethan?”

“Don't think you’re getting out of that conversation. I'm here to stay, so we'll have to have it one of these days.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“My arms are getting tired,” Raj says.

“What you're supposed to be feeling, my friend, is a slight heaviness in the air.” To my surprise, he doesn't give me one of the looks he's been so fond of lately. Instead, he furrows his brow in concentration.

“Yeah, I think I do.” He runs his hand up and down in the air.

“I feel it too. What do you think it is?” Raj is running his hands to the left and right, stretching out to see how far he can feel this strange sensation.

I shrug my shoulders. “I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I think it's cloaking Neech from us.”

“But why?”

“The Corporation obviously doesn't want anyone out here to know the cities exist. I guess they don’t want us to see what’s really out in the Further, either.”

“For protection or to keep us caged?” Dhevan brings up a good question.

“You're so sure it's them?” Raj says.

“Of course it's them. Who else could it be?”

“It's about the same distance out as the end of the Biodome, wouldn't you say?” Dhevan says.

“Good catch.” I nod my head. “So the Biodome isn't a Biodome at all, then? It's a shield of some kind that keeps Neech and Dhan invisible to the rest of the world?”

“Maybe it is a Biodome
and
it keeps us from seeing what's really out here in the Further.” Raj offers. As much as I despise his presence and don’t trust him in the slightest, he’s a thinker.

“I'll go back in,” Dhevan says. “You stay out here. Let’s test the theory.” He takes a step forward and begins walking sideways.

“What are you doing?” I say. “I thought you wanted to go back in?”

“I'm trying,” Dhevan says with a growl. “It's not letting me. It’s pushing me back.”

“That's ridiculous,” I say, walking forward. But he's right, it's not letting us back in, it's pushing us around. Kind of like a pair of same-sided magnets. “Come here, I want to try something.” Dhevan's back at my side. “I want to see how this reacts to us; if it's designed to not only hide the cities from us, but also to keep us out.”

“What do you want us to do?” Raj asks.

I walk back a yard or so and wait for my companions to join me, Dhevan on my right, Raj on my left. “Walk in as straight of a line as you can until I say stop.”

We move forward, ignoring each other as much as possible as we walk our lines. I pay particularly close attention to my feet and where they land. I'm proud of myself. I haven't deviated from my straight line, and I haven't noticed anything especially strange about the film in the air that we noticed earlier.

“Okay, stop.” I look up, expecting to see Dhevan no more than a couple of feet away from me, but he's more like thirty or so yards in the distance to my right, and he's not whole. Parts of him aren’t visible. From his knee to his hip is missing on his right leg and he looks much thinner than normal. “I thought I told you to walk in a straight line?” I yell over to him.

“I did,” he shouts back.

“Obviously the giant has lumbered along the wrong straight line,” Raj says.

“Ever stop to think that maybe
you
were the one walking crooked?” Dhevan hollers.

“Not possible. Walk back. Same thing—straight line.”

This time, we watch each other as we move. Sure enough, it doesn’t look as if either of us has detoured from our designated straight lines, but the barrier protecting the cities is pushing us away. It's so subtle, I don’t even notice it happening.

I keep an eye on Dhevan’s missing leg, and while we merge back together, it becomes visible again. When we’re back to where we started, I say, “Who knows how many people have passed us by without even knowing we were there?”

“Which makes me wonder how the Untouchable found us.”

“An Untouchable found the cities?” Raj says with surprise.

“And how he got in. This barrier seems to be one way—you can leave, but you can't get back in.”

There's a moment of silence. “Which means we don't exactly have a simple, clean way of getting back home, do we?” Dhevan says.

That thought hit me only seconds before. “I'm working on it,” I say, thinking of Karis. There's no way I'm never not going to see her again.

“What Untouchable?” Raj is aggravated we’re ignoring him. “There’s an Untouchable in Neech?” I can see something being mulled over in his brain, it shines bright through his eyes. “And you didn’t tell the Corporation? How easily you flip sides.”

“Drop it Raj, it doesn’t concern you.” He shuts his mouth with a smug smile. My words may have silenced him for now, but I can tell he’s not going to forget this.

“Maybe it has something to do with our Marks,” Dhevan says, staring down at his arm.

“Maybe, but then, why haven't other Untouchables found their way in? I would think that the Corporation would want to keep them out, not let them in.”

“Maybe this one was actually looking for us and knew something we didn’t about getting in.” Dhevan turns around and starts walking again. “C'mon,” he says. “We need to keep moving, make up for lost time.”

I fall into line after Raj and Dhevan, thinking of what this new information means for us, and trying to think like my father to know what the truth of it really is.