“Searching for a chili cheese fries app.”
“What?” He stared at the screen, felt the confusion rise with embarrassment as a couple of teenagers brushed past him. He glanced up and saw one of them, a boy, looking at him, laughing. “Oh, shut up,” he said, fumbling to push a button on the touchscreen with his fingers encased in a glove.
“Movie shopper—opening movie ticket app—”
He fumbled and pressed the power button, watching as the screen went dark. “Damnable thing.”
“Let me do an internet search for a song to sing—”
He grumbled with irritation and pressed the button again, as the screen went black once more and the voice of the computer went quiet. His eyes came up again, back to Fries’ building. “Stanchion. Oh, yes, Directorate, you will see. And Sienna Nealon, you’ll be with us soon...whether you want to or not.”
There was a moment’s pause, then a muffled voice came from within his hand. “Let me do an internet search for bookstore oh yes director tools see you soon the new be us in—”
With a grunt of rage, he pitched the phone against the wall and watched it shatter into a cloud of plastic dust. He felt some of the debris sprinkle across his face, then shook his head at the momentary loss of temper and looked around. No one was paying attention to him. He sighed. “Now I’ll have to buy another one. And doubtless it will work just as well as this one...” His eyes went back to the roof of Fries’ building and the place that the helicopter’s flight path had taken it only moments before. “No matter. Soon she’ll be with us.” He felt the smile return to his lips, revealing his teeth, exposing them to the cold .
“Soon.”
2.
Sienna Nealon
The helicopter ride was smooth, surprisingly so for such a blustery day. It was my first autumn out in the world, out of my house, and I liked it better than summer and winter so far, but not as much as spring. The city of Minneapolis was fading behind us, the tall buildings and the skyline still a scene of mystery and excitement for me, even though I had been there more times than I could count now.
James Fries sat across from me, unspeaking. Of course, he had duct tape across his mouth and a black hood over his head, but I suspect even if he hadn’t been so afflicted, he would have been smart enough to keep his mouth shut around me. It had been only about three months since he’d seduced me, using the fact that he was the only person I’d ever met whom I could safely touch to parlay himself into a romantic situation. It was not a shining moment in my memory. It left me with a few simmering resentments and a mess of regrets. Staring at him now, face hidden behind the hood, I liked to imagine that he might have felt a regret or two as well. You know, behind the duct tape.
The helicopter began its descent over the Directorate campus, the headquarters building with its white concrete and glass design visible below. The ground was covered with red and yellow leaves, drawing a slight smile and overriding my sense of cold satisfaction. Zack was diagonal from me, and I caught his gaze once, at least. Around me, everyone was all smiles. Except Kurt Hannegan. He just looked stiff.
The campus was glorious, a miasma of autumn leaf colors standing out against the still—green grass that they lay upon. A few leaves still clung to their host trees stubbornly, apparently unaware that their eviction was imminent. That was okay by me, though, because I loved the colors, loved how they contrasted with the dull brown bark of their progenitors. I wasn’t looking forward to the last of them leaving, because I knew winter was coming. I shivered; it was my least favorite time of the year.