you leave the safety zone?” I’m stunned. They had attained everything anyone could dream of. There’s nothing better than being a Legion commander. It’s the highest honour.
“We missed being human. Do you know the difference between a human and a robot?” asks Gustav.
When I don’t answer, Marie answers for me. “Humans have souls. And souls die in the Legion.”
I think back to my conversation with Paul, and how I told him no one laughs in the safety zone, and that was what I liked about D523. No one holds hands there. No one strokes anyone’s cheek. No one kisses. No one loves anyone. Maybe they’re not so wrong after all. Maybe there’s something wrong with that system.
“We wanted to change things, back then. We wanted to do things better. But we were the minority. Unlike today, we had the choice. We could join, or we had to leave.” I can feel Gustav’s frustration.
“We left, and we’ve never regretted it,” says Marie cheerfully, and Gustav smiles again.
“The people here, are any others from the safety zone?”
“Oh yes, Paul and Grace come from the same one as you do, as we did. Florence and her brothers come from another one in the north. Heaven knows how they found their way here.”
“Her brothers?”
“The twins, Jep and Pep. You know them.”
“But they don’t look like Florence, how can they be related?”
“Aren’t we all related somehow?” Gustav grins, and I see he has hardly any teeth. No wonder, at his age—over eighty. In the safety zone, no one is allowed to be older than 60. He goes on. “Sometimes the heart connects people more than blood ever could.”
That night, lying on my mattress next to Iris, I think about Marie and Gustav’s words. I don’t know my mother or father. There’s absolutely no way to find out anything about them or my siblings. Either there is no information about them, or the Legion commanders would keep the data locked up so that I couldn’t access it. That’s if I ever get back to the safety zone.
“Iris, would you like to have a family?”
“Sure. It would be great to have a mother like Grace. Emily’s so lucky. Why do you ask?” She looks at me with interest. The light blue in her eyes is almost completely gone, and the sparkling grey has won. Her face also isn’t covered in bruises. We probably don’t look any more alike than Florence and her brothers.
“What about a sister?”
She appears to be thinking, but doesn’t answer until she looks me over thoroughly. “If I had a sister, she should be just like you.”
I laugh, relieved. A contemptuous snort comes from the door—it’s Finn. I don’t care. “Theoretically, we could be sisters. I mean, no one knows who we’re really related to.”
Iris is all for it and sits up in her bed. “Yes, that’s true, maybe we really are sisters.”
“Maybe. I’d like you to be my little sister in any case.”
Iris crows with delight. Her whole face shines with joy. “If I’m your sister, can I sleep in your bed?”
“If you like.” I lift up my blanket so she can slip inside, which she hurries to do.
She cuddles against my arm so I can feel her breath on my throat. “Good night, sister,” she whispers happily.
“Good night.”
“Good night, Finn,” she calls, and he grumbles from the doorway in reply. If it makes him happy to sleep on the floor in front of our room, I certainly won’t stop him.
- -
08. ZOE
I t’s a strange new feeling for me to dip my fingers and hands into the dry earth. The sand sticks under my fingernails and colours my skin red. I let the pieces of stone drop from one hand to the other. When I press them hard, they disintegrate. As well as earth, there are old plant roots and sometimes there’s even a worm. I nearly cut the head off my first, when I was using the spade. Then, when I carefully lifted it out of the ground and looked at it in the palm of my hand, Finn only rolled his eyes.
I annoy him terribly. It starts in the
“We missed being human. Do you know the difference between a human and a robot?” asks Gustav.
When I don’t answer, Marie answers for me. “Humans have souls. And souls die in the Legion.”
I think back to my conversation with Paul, and how I told him no one laughs in the safety zone, and that was what I liked about D523. No one holds hands there. No one strokes anyone’s cheek. No one kisses. No one loves anyone. Maybe they’re not so wrong after all. Maybe there’s something wrong with that system.
“We wanted to change things, back then. We wanted to do things better. But we were the minority. Unlike today, we had the choice. We could join, or we had to leave.” I can feel Gustav’s frustration.
“We left, and we’ve never regretted it,” says Marie cheerfully, and Gustav smiles again.
“The people here, are any others from the safety zone?”
“Oh yes, Paul and Grace come from the same one as you do, as we did. Florence and her brothers come from another one in the north. Heaven knows how they found their way here.”
“Her brothers?”
“The twins, Jep and Pep. You know them.”
“But they don’t look like Florence, how can they be related?”
“Aren’t we all related somehow?” Gustav grins, and I see he has hardly any teeth. No wonder, at his age—over eighty. In the safety zone, no one is allowed to be older than 60. He goes on. “Sometimes the heart connects people more than blood ever could.”
That night, lying on my mattress next to Iris, I think about Marie and Gustav’s words. I don’t know my mother or father. There’s absolutely no way to find out anything about them or my siblings. Either there is no information about them, or the Legion commanders would keep the data locked up so that I couldn’t access it. That’s if I ever get back to the safety zone.
“Iris, would you like to have a family?”
“Sure. It would be great to have a mother like Grace. Emily’s so lucky. Why do you ask?” She looks at me with interest. The light blue in her eyes is almost completely gone, and the sparkling grey has won. Her face also isn’t covered in bruises. We probably don’t look any more alike than Florence and her brothers.
“What about a sister?”
She appears to be thinking, but doesn’t answer until she looks me over thoroughly. “If I had a sister, she should be just like you.”
I laugh, relieved. A contemptuous snort comes from the door—it’s Finn. I don’t care. “Theoretically, we could be sisters. I mean, no one knows who we’re really related to.”
Iris is all for it and sits up in her bed. “Yes, that’s true, maybe we really are sisters.”
“Maybe. I’d like you to be my little sister in any case.”
Iris crows with delight. Her whole face shines with joy. “If I’m your sister, can I sleep in your bed?”
“If you like.” I lift up my blanket so she can slip inside, which she hurries to do.
She cuddles against my arm so I can feel her breath on my throat. “Good night, sister,” she whispers happily.
“Good night.”
“Good night, Finn,” she calls, and he grumbles from the doorway in reply. If it makes him happy to sleep on the floor in front of our room, I certainly won’t stop him.
- -
08. ZOE
I t’s a strange new feeling for me to dip my fingers and hands into the dry earth. The sand sticks under my fingernails and colours my skin red. I let the pieces of stone drop from one hand to the other. When I press them hard, they disintegrate. As well as earth, there are old plant roots and sometimes there’s even a worm. I nearly cut the head off my first, when I was using the spade. Then, when I carefully lifted it out of the ground and looked at it in the palm of my hand, Finn only rolled his eyes.
I annoy him terribly. It starts in the
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