Chapter 47

Several hours later...

It was almost 10 PM before Brianna was led by building security to her new home, the upper levels of the Central Government Complex. After going through a number of rigorous medical exams in the labs below, Brianna was surprised to be allowed to discard her flimsy medical smock and to put on newly issued clothes. And then she was escorted to an ascending elevator. Brianna had assumed she'd be kept in one of the sub-level holding pens, and was half expecting that the medics would begin harvesting her ovaries immediately. And once they began, they would not stop with her ovaries...

As the elevator kept ascending, Brianna thought long and hard whether there was anything she could have done differently. There was no place to run, but even to be free for a short time would be one last statement of defiance, one final yell against the injustice of the world. She looked casually at her guard. The guard seemed bored and inattentive to the eight-year-old girl standing close by her side...

Would it be possible for Brianna to overcome this woman, grab her green ID card and exit the building? No, of course not. Security cameras were everywhere. But should she die trying to anyway? To go meekly to the harvesting knife was not Brianna's idea about how she wanted to die. The only thoughts stopping her were Isabelle's finger-words from the beach. "Don't outfight! Outthink!" Brianna kept thinking them to herself, over and over again.

The elevator doors finally opened, revealing the beautiful marble entrance hall of a palatial adult living suite. Brianna stepped out in wonder, and the doors hissed shut behind her. Brianna was startled that the guard did not follow her, and she felt bewildered about what to do next. And then her dear friend came running to her from an adjacent room.

"Brianna!"

"Uh?!" Brianna looked around at the room, flashing her eyes in warning that there were probably hidden cameras and microphones.

Isabelle laughed. "Oh yes! I know. We've being intensely observed. But here! There is compensation!" In Isabelle's hand was a bright blue ID card.

Brianna stared at it for a moment. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No! It's real! And it's yours! Take a look!"

Brianna stared at the ID. 349877535:999:784:886-825. "Yeah, it's me all right... 886?! Level-6 Blue Flag?!"

"Yes, for me too!"

"What's the price?!"

Isabelle nodded. "Yes, there is one. Let's go to the living room. I'll tell you all about it."

The two girls picked one of the plush leather couches to sit in. "What's the price uh... can I call you..."

Isabelle nodded. "Isabelle? Yes, I've asked. In fact, we're supposed to act completely natural with each other. That's the whole point of all this. And there are holographic cameras everywhere, including the bedrooms and baths. That's the price Brianna. Zero privacy. Absolutely none. Our whole lives are being recorded and analyzed, every single second..."

"And they told you this?"

"Yes. Can you see why?"

Brianna thought. "Yeah, I think so. They want us to get used to the idea, not be suspicious, not fight it..."

"Yes, exactly!"

"Isabelle! You're smiling about this?!"

"It beats the knife! Even now, our IDs will let us roam freely through all the public areas of the Complex. We can even go outside, even take a walk on the beach! All we have to do is stay inside the city limits. In about a week, we'll be able to go back to school."

"To school?!"

"Yes. Until then we'll be living here. But Brianna! They'll let you start your junior science track! I can even stay in my junior commander program." Isabelle spent the next half hour describing her visit with the Level-5 Dr. Lisa, the public version that the other e-techs saw.

Brianna frowned at the end of it. "Seems hard to believe..."

"Want to test it? We're allowed to go through any doors our cards will open."

Brianna was silent for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I do."

The two girls took the elevator down to the main public halls. The security guards had been alerted to their presence and simply nodded at them as the walked out of the building, and then just waved them through when they returned. Brianna started to laugh and she ran back outside the building, closely followed by Isabelle. Brianna laughed her heart into the night air, and was soon joined by Isabelle in the release of their tension.

After catching their breath, they came back into the complex, waving to the guards with bright smiles and heading for the elevators.

"Want to sack out?" asked Isabelle.

"Soon... Sleep with me?"

"I'd love too."

Brianna had a mischievous grin on her face as she entered the elevator. "Just one more test..." she whispered as she slipped her ID into the elevator control slot. She studied the display for a moment, amazed at the options her Blue-Flag clearance was giving her. She keyed in the codes for the lower-level medical labs. Isabelle raised her eyebrows playfully but said nothing. Brianna gave her a wicked smile back.

The elevator doors opened into the medical reception area. Isabelle and Brianna stepped out and idly wandered over to a bulletin board near the front desk.

The medical assistant on duty was absolutely shocked that two unescorted children were standing a few feet away from her, calmly reading the medical staff's notices. She frantically pushed the call button for her supervisor.