The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (34 page)

Priscilla smiled at his words and put her hand over his, giving it a squeeze. It was very warm and her grip was strong. “I’m over it by now, it was a long time ago.” She paused and her smile faded.

“Actually, the part that affected me more was just living in the perfect world. I was always being told I was wrong just because I didn’t believe everything I heard. I asked questions, I wanted to talk with the other students, and most of all, I wanted to know why I couldn’t leave that little room. I wanted to know why I couldn’t choose when I could use the bathroom or what food I ate or what clothes I wore. All I wanted were honest answers and for that, I was treated like a disease.”

Cyrus nodded, remembering his own experiences with the same thing. “It starts to get to you. You start thinking that maybe you’re crazy for believing what you do, and yet you can’t accept what they tell you. Then, you just feel trapped, but you don’t know how to fix it.”

“That’s why I think you’re the brave one, not me,” Priscilla told him, a fierce light burning in her eyes as she looked at him. “I could barely stand the eight years I lasted in that place, but you spent eighteen years there. After all the indoctrination, you still managed to keep your sanity and you even managed to try and escape on your own.”

“How do you know that?” Cyrus asked, never having really related the story to anyone except Scott and Ms. Linda.

“I work at my parents’ restaurant. The Greenwald Restaurant.”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I think I saw you outside there when I was walking around.”             

“You did. I was going to talk to you, but you walked off before I could.” Cyrus noticed that she sounded a little miffed.

“I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the time, honestly,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.

Priscilla gave him a sympathetic look. “Well, we’re a restaurant and a bar, which means we serve lots of alcohol. It has the side effect of loosening people’s tongues, which means I hear a lot of gossip. We get a lot of nurses in there as well, and they love to gossip.”

“Oh,” was all Cyrus said as the pieces fell into place.

“Yeah, they told everyone who would listen about the young man who ran away from the perfect world, took a bullet to the shoulder and still managed to get up and run for freedom.”

“They sure made it sound a lot grander than it was,” Cyrus murmured, not liking that he had been the topic of discussion with a bunch of strangers.             

Priscilla smiled. “You’re too modest. There are few people in the world who could claim to do what you did, especially after all those years of being stuck there. As I said, you’re the brave one, not me.”

Cyrus didn’t know what to say to this, but Priscilla just squeezed his hand again and said, “That’s why I wanted to meet you. I thought you would know what I experienced.”

“I do,” Cyrus replied honestly, but at the same time a question nagged in his mind. “But why didn’t you talk to Scott about it when he came here? I’m sure he would have understood, if you had told him.”

Priscilla frowned and ran her fingers through her hair as if she was nervous to admit something. “Actually, Scott and I didn’t go to the same school until we were in middle school. When I was a kid, I would get nightmares about what happened. I didn’t want to talk about it at all back then.”

Cyrus felt like she wasn’t telling him something. “Are you and Scott friends?” She gave him an unfriendly look, and he started to backpedal. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Her expression softened, but her tone held some bitterness. “I think he’s more Xavier’s friend than mine. That’s all I’ll say.” Her tone held a note of finality, one that Cyrus wasn’t going to press.

She turned away from him, her eyes distant again. Then, she said, “Anyway, thanks for listening to me. I’ve never really talked about what I experienced. It’s nice to have someone else who understands.”

Cyrus had no idea what to say to that and Priscilla said nothing more on the matter. Instead, she released the grip on his hand and held up a tray of food. A big smile was on her face. “Say, are you hungry?”

“Maybe a little.” Cyrus really wasn’t, but he didn’t want to offend her.

“Good. I made some chocolate cheese balls, and I wanted you to be the first to try them.”

“Me? Why me?” he asked, not really sure why he was always the first person she fed. Oftentimes when he came over to Xavier’s house, she would come by with some plate of food. She always gave him the first dibs on trying it, no matter who else clamored to eat it first. He didn’t mind trying her food as he found her an excellent cook, but he still wasn’t clear on why he got the preferential treatment. Since this was the first time they’d really been alone together, he decided he’d ask. She grinned at him as she answered.

“One, because my parents and I are always coming up with new recipes to serve at our restaurant. And two, because I doubt you’ve tried anything this good in the perfect world. I remember how awful the food is there.”

Cyrus snorted. “And that’s being generous. Especially when they had that nasty oatmeal for breakfast.”

“Oh, I hated that too! One day I got so mad at getting that nasty gunky stuff that I threw it across the room. It splattered all over my wall. My caretaker was so angry that day.”

This time, Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh. “I did the same thing. My mother was not pleased.”

“Your mother?” Priscilla thought it over for a moment, then her eyes widened. “You live with Ms. Linda, right?” Cyrus nodded and she gaped at him. “You did
that
to Ms. Linda? I’m surprised you’re still alive.”

“I suppose that had something to do with not being able to kill your charges. I think her administrators wouldn’t appreciate that.” Cyrus grinned. “I guess that’s one thing to be grateful to the perfect world for. Keeping me alive in spite of Ms. Linda’s wrath.”

The tall brunette chuckled appreciatively. “Anyway, that’s why I always want you to try my food first. I don’t want you going on with the idea that all food is that bad. Plus, I think you’ll appreciate it more than the others who have had it all their lives.” She held up a small ball on a toothpick for him. “Here, try one.”

Cyrus took the small chocolate covered cheese ball and slipped it into his mouth. He immediately brightened at the soft, creamy taste of the cheese mixed with the sweet of the chocolate.

“Well?” Priscilla questioned with her head tilted.

“It’s really good.” Cyrus gave her a thumbs up. “Can I have another?”

“Of course, take as many as you like.”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “If I do that, there won’t be any left for anyone else.”

Now, Priscilla looked extremely pleased. “I wouldn’t be upset if you did.” She balanced the plate on the balcony and her eyes looked him over in a sly way. “Say, aren’t you cold? It’s a little chilly out here.”

Cyrus shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Huh, you’re lucky. I’m freezing.” She moved a little closer. “You mind if I lean against you? Just to help me warm up?”

Cyrus swallowed his food and looked at her curiously at the statement. He couldn’t think of a good reason to say no, so he said, “Um, sure.”

Priscilla seemed to almost bounce in place and brightened as she leaned against his side. She placed his free arm over her shoulder and closed her eyes. Cyrus glanced at her, not sure of how to feel. Her body was pleasant enough against his, but as he stared at the top of her head, her hair reflected the dying rays of the sun. The rays set off her copper highlights and turned them almost a reddish color. Then, suddenly, he wasn’t looking at a head full of brown hair, but one full of wavy red hair. The body against his became Melody’s, and the warmth of her touch sprang to his mind.

“Cyrus?”

Priscilla’s voice broke the image, and he turned his green eyes down to stare at her, feeling a bit guilty. She was studying him as if trying to discern what he was thinking. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment until they were interrupted by a loud voice.

“Hey, Cyrus, there you are.” Xavier’s voice carried as he walked out onto the balcony. “I was wondering where you … disappeared to …”

Cyrus wondered at the sudden halt in his friend’s speech, and he realized that he had just noticed Priscilla’s presence. He suddenly remembered that his arm was over her shoulder, and he gently removed it. Priscilla looked a little put off  at the move and gave Xavier an unfriendly stare.

Xavier looked between them, no longer his usual energetic self and said, “I hope I didn’t interrupt something.”

Cyrus suddenly went a little red, realizing what he was getting at. “Oh, no, no. Priscilla was just letting me try some of her food. It was really good.” He grabbed the plate from the railing and handed it to Priscilla.

“I’m sure it was. Priscilla always makes good food,” Xavier said as he met her gaze. The tall girl’s demeanor softened and she picked a cheese ball off the plate.

“Here, try one.” She handed it to him, and he ate it with little enthusiasm.

“Tastes great, like always,” he said quickly and turned around. “You two should come inside. It’s going to get cold soon, and I wouldn’t want you both getting sick.”

“Yes, mother,” Priscilla replied. “We’ll come in soon, don’t worry. I have to put these on the table soon anyway. Wouldn’t want people missing out on my cooking.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Xavier said, and then he hastily slipped back inside.

Cyrus and Priscilla stood in silence for a while after Xavier left. The atmosphere had turned incredibly awkward, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. Finally, Priscilla just shrugged and said, “Well, I guess we may as well go inside and warm up.”

She turned to go, but as he watched her leave Cyrus thought of something. “Wait, Priscilla. There’s something I want to ask you.”

Priscilla turned back to him with a slight look of anticipation on her face. “Yes?” she asked quietly.

“You lived in the perfect world, so you know what it’s like. You know what destiny awaits those who still live there. People like us who caused trouble and were told they were wrong.”

She looked away uncomfortably and said, “Yes.”

“If there was a way to stop it,” Cyrus started earnestly, “if there was a way for us to save those people, would you be willing to do it?”

Priscilla met his eyes, her own burning with fire. “Absolutely.”

Cyrus smiled, hope coming alive in his chest at her words.

“Why do you ask?”

He felt Priscilla’s eyes on him as he searched for an answer. He closed his eyes and said, “I just wanted to know.”

Priscilla look dissatisfied at the answer as she opened the balcony door. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

Cyrus nodded and followed her into the house, glad to know there was someone else his age who felt the same way he did.

The thought of destiny and the fate of those left behind in the perfect world settled itself in the back of Cyrus’s mind as he resumed his normal routine. During his lessons, he tried to act normally so that his teachers wouldn’t worry about him. At home, he tried doing his own research. He used the internet at his house to look up information on both destiny and the raids that had been used to rescue people who were being sent to the Disposal Zones.

To his complete aggravation, Cyrus didn’t learn much that was new. Destiny was defined online in about the same wording that Mr. Schumacher had used. Any further information, like how they kept track of all the destinies for the students, remained a mystery.

Information on the raids wasn’t much better. The only new thing Cyrus had learned was that they had been postponed indefinitely. Apparently, the last one they had performed had ended tragically for all involved. However, information about what went wrong, how often the raids had gone wrong before or how many people had been saved by them was not available to him. Or if it was, he hadn’t found it.

It was getting closer to winter time now, and the air was bitter cold. Cyrus was grateful when he got to leave the soccer field and enter the warmth of the school building. Physical training was still a fun class for him as he enjoyed the exercise and spending time with his friends. The awkward moment between Xavier and Priscilla seemed to have been forgotten, though he was now often aware of how Xavier’s eyes seemed to follow him when he was with Priscilla.

All of his other classes had continued going smoothly, and he had been informed that he would be able to move into his technical classes by the start of next year. He would still continue his private lessons in math and science, but his history and English lessons would be finished.

As he went into his history lesson that day, he felt a bit sad  knowing that he wouldn’t see Mr. Schumacher anymore. Cyrus also felt a bit of urgency, as well. He wanted to ask Mr. Schumacher a bit more about destiny. He knew Mr. Schumacher probably wouldn’t like him prying for more information, but at the same time he was likely to answer his questions regardless.

Cyrus sat patiently through his lessons and asked questions as he normally did so that he did not arouse any suspicions. Then, when his history lessons were at an end and he had his five minute break, Cyrus gathered his courage and asked the questions that had been on his mind for some time.

“Mr. Schumacher?”

“Yes, Cyrus?” he answered promptly.

“I have a question about destiny.”

Now Mr. Schumacher’s eyes focused on him, and his face grew serious. For a moment, Cyrus wondered if his teacher wasn’t going to answer his question. However, Mr. Schumacher breathed out a small sigh and asked, “What is it, Cyrus?”

“I was just wondering,” Cyrus started, trying to keep his voice neutral, “how they determine the destinies of the people in the perfect world? How do they choose who lives and who dies?”

“That is a fair question, I suppose.” Mr. Schumacher folded his hands in front of him and said, “As far as we can tell from our spies’ information, people are chosen for their different destinies for two main reasons. The first is simply the capability to perform the actions needed to keep the system running. For example, those who will spend their remaining years within a factory, physical strength is the key. The healthiest females are chosen for the breeders. They make these determinations until all the job replacements are filled.

“The second factor is the passiveness of the person in question. The perfect world monitors their children from the time they are very small. Any outbursts or signs of “illness” are recorded. Those who are the most submissive and have shown little to no resistance to their system are often the ones who are chosen. They also tend to pick those who are less intelligent than their peers. The less intelligent they are, the less likely they are to ask questions or make trouble once they’re taken out of their pampered lives and forced into their often cruel roles.”

“I see,” Cyrus replied somberly. “And, when the day comes that they are chosen, how do the caretakers and administrators know who to take away and who to keep?”

“We were curious about that too until we were able to hack into their systems. The administrators prepare a list of the students in each building. These students are placed in alphabetical order and next to their name is a column that contains their destiny. It will designate what they do for the rest of their lives, or whether they will breathe their last breath at age twenty-five.”

“When do they make these lists?” Cyrus asked, feeling that he was getting closer to the answer he was looking for.

“Typically, the administrators begin forming the lists when the students turn eighteen years old.” Mr. Schumacher took a drink of water and said, “From what we’ve seen, a new list is put out every year until the students reach age twenty-five. However, the lists rarely change from age eighteen. The destiny that is placed on the list at that time is likely the one the students will face.”

“How did our people see these lists, sir?”

“A few decades ago, we managed to hack into their computer systems. Our computer security teams pull their lists out every year and keep them in their systems. They’re used to monitor any changes in the perfect world. They also give us an idea of when they are going to take these students to be slaughtered. In the past, we’ve managed a few successful raids and got people away before they could be killed. However, we have not done this in a while.”

“Why not?” Cyrus asked, having wondered about these raids ever since Priscilla told him her story.

“It’s because the perfect world has become a lot more wary of the raids and a lot more secure. The last raid we tried was a total disaster. All of the squadron was captured and wiped out. The government officials feared that valuable information was given to our enemies and is refusing to allow such large scale raids to happen again.”

“But, if they don’t do the raids, how will we save those people destined to die?”

“We won’t. That’s the simple truth.” Mr. Schumacher looked a bit angry and his fingers locked together tightly. “Now, this is just my opinion Cyrus, so I don’t want you spouting this as fact. Okay?”

“Okay,” Cyrus agreed, curious about what he was about to hear.

“Our government is becoming much more of a hindrance than a help, much in the same way that the governments of the past were. We should be doing something to try and help those who are stuck in the perfect world. We should be trying to do much more than we are to get rid of the system itself. However, all our government does is make excuses. It’s not safe, they say. We don’t have enough resources, they say. Yet, we have the superior technology. We have domes full of people who are determined to see the perfect world brought to its end. They are willing to take the risks to make it happen. Yet, even knowing this, they do nothing.

“It is the same as before. They pretend to care about the people of the domes and the people of the world. The reality is very different. The only thing they really care about is their own safety and keeping their position of power. This same attitude is what brought us the perfect world in the first place.” He slammed his fist on the table, startling Cyrus. Mr. Schumacher realized what he had done and looked apologetic. “I’m sorry Cyrus. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just got carried away is all.”

“It’s okay,” Cyrus replied, before thinking back to when he first came to the Pittsburgh Dome. “What about John Eldrick? My mother always says good things about him, and she rarely says a good thing about anyone. Is he just trying to stay in power too?”

His teacher smiled. “No. Eldrick is one of the few decent, honest men we have left in our government. Unfortunately, he’s only one man. No matter how good one person is or how good their intentions are, they cannot get anything done unilaterally. It doesn’t help that oftentimes people in politics work against such people for their own gains, whether here or abroad.”

“Why doesn’t anyone do something about it?” Cyrus was puzzled. “People must realize that this is what happened before the perfect world was formed. It’s dangerous to let things go on like this.”

Mr. Schumacher laughed, and this time Cyrus thought it sounded very bitter. “I suppose it’s time you learnt the most important lesson of all of history Cyrus. Nobody learns anything from history. Human beings have repeated the same cycle of events caused by the same problems and haven’t learned anything from it. I once thought, living here that maybe we would have advanced past this,” Mr. Schumacher closed his eyes and put a hand over them, “but I was wrong.”

Cyrus didn’t know what to do. He had never seen his teacher look so downtrodden before. Hesitantly, he spoke up, “I think maybe that will be true if we stop trying.” Mr. Schumacher opened his eyes to stare at him. “It’s like you said. There are a lot of people who see the problems. I see them. You see them. I think when the time comes to take action, people will try to do the right thing. As long as there’s someone there who hasn’t given up, I think they’ll try.”

Mr. Schumacher stared intently at Cyrus for a moment before saying, “It could be the naivety of youth talking. Still, I hope you’re right, Cyrus. I hope you’re right.”

They finished the English lesson with relatively few questions. Mr. Schumacher unwittingly had given him the answers he needed. He was forming a plan in his mind as he sat in the lesson, discussing some passages from the book he was assigned to read. When the lesson was finally over, Cyrus thanked Mr. Schumacher and hurriedly made his way back to his house.

Cyrus made it back in record time, hoping to find Scott sitting at the table, eating an afternoon snack as he normally did. To his great relief, Scott was there munching on a red apple. Ms. Linda always bought tons of apples for snacks, saying that Scott always loved them, even as a kid. Cyrus figured it was also her way of keeping Scott from eating junk food. He waved a greeting to Cyrus as he chewed a mouthful of apple.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Scott asked when he finally swallowed.

“Pretty well,” Cyrus replied. He hadn’t brought up the topic of destiny with Scott either since they had their first discussion of it. He had been trying to maintain the feeling of normalcy between them so that when the time came, Scott wouldn’t be too suspicious of answering his questions. Or so he hoped.

“How goes the schooling? Still enjoying it?”

“Yep, it’s been fine. I really enjoyed physical training this morning. We did a lot of evasive maneuvers today. It was great, especially since it was so cold.”

Scott gave a mock shudder. “I don’t envy you guys at all. Running around in that freezing morning air must be awful.”

“I don’t mind it.” Cyrus shrugged, knowing his friend’s hatred of the cold. “Actually, I kind of like the cold.”

“Have I ever told you you’re a freak?” Scott asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe once or twice,” Cyrus replied, knowing it was far more than that.

Thinking of physical training reminded him of the incidents between Xavier and Priscilla. He had often wondered if Scott knew anything about it, so he decided now might be a good time to ask. “Hey Scott, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Do you know what the deal is with Priscilla and Xavier?”

At this, Scott’s face turned a little sour. “I do know something about it. What is it you want to know?”

“Well, it seems like Xavier is watching me really carefully whenever Priscilla is around me. Does he like Priscilla or something?”

Scott chewed the rest of his apple, raising a finger to ask him to wait a moment. He threw the core into the garbage and then sat back in his chair, an irritated expression on his face.

“To answer your question, he did. I really hope he doesn’t anymore.”

Cyrus was surprised by the brutal tone of the statement. “Why? Did something bad happen between them or something?”

“It’s mostly what didn’t happen between them that’s the problem,” Scott muttered as he waved Cyrus towards a chair. “You’d better sit down. This is kind of a long story.”

Cyrus did as he was told and Scott continued. “You know that Xavier and Priscilla have known each other for a long time, right? They’re practically neighbors and played together all the time. Well, as we were reaching the end of high school, Xavier really began to develop feelings towards Priscilla. I think he had them for a while, but he was finally admitting them to himself when he turned seventeen.

“Anyway, Priscilla wasn’t seeing anyone at that time and Xavier wanted to make a move. So, me and a few other guys decided to try and help him out. We started trying to put them together as much as possible, whether it being sitting together during classes, visiting in the hallways or hanging out at lunch. We all tried hinting that they should be together. At first, Priscilla didn’t seem to mind being around Xavier so much, but then she seemed to change her mind. She started avoiding all of us, and when Xavier finally confronted her about it, it started the mother of all arguments. For a long time, Priscilla didn’t talk to any of us. It really depressed Xavier a lot.”

“I can’t imagine Xavier being depressed,” Cyrus said. The very idea seemed alien to him.

“Believe me, you don’t want to. It took me and my friends a long time to pull him out of that.” Scott shook his head, looking angry all over again. “Priscilla and him barely talked for the rest of that year. Eventually, they made up and became friends again, but it really hurt Xavier.”