The Watchers

It happened in a flash.
One second it was just an ordinary strip of cement that sixteen pairs of Converse, nine sets of Adidas or Nikes, and three random pairs of flip-flops pounded over in a rush to get home from school. The next, blinding, electric-blue light shone in a circle from the ground, trapping three unlikely victims inside.
Jackson Brettle, the popular jock who was never single for more than a week and a half stood in the circle, sapphire blue eyes widened in terror, mouth open in shock, or maybe that was terror, too. Too scared to flip his auburny-brown hair away from his eyes, stood stock still in between the Goth, Zachary Gilnet, and the Uber-Nerd, Matt Kretchen.
Matt stood with his knees wobbling, forehead sweating, causing the bristles of his closecut brunette hair to stick to his forehead, He looked a bit like a scared puppy, and wanted to reach out and touch the barrier of darkness that surrounded the three of them. He knew there were three people by the sounds of the breathing, but who these three happened to be was still a mystery.
Zachary seemed the only one unchanged. He stood with a blank expression on his face, eyelids lowered over his storm-cloud eyes, just a little to give him the “I-really-don’t-care-what-happens-to-me” look, white-blonde hair covered up by his usual beanie, but sticking out around the back and his bangs, thumbs hanging to the edge of a slightly worn out hoodie, black of course. Dark skinny jeans, and dark gray hi-top Converse.
From the outside, the cylinder was clearer than freshly cleaned glass, however, inside was a different story. Cold, black, smooth marble seemed to cut off life entirely, making it pitch black, and eerily silent inside this tomb of a prison.
Some people, friends of Jackson’s, were pounding on the figure that had them trapped, others merely moved on as they slammed against the chilled object in the middle of the sidewalk.
Then, it started to move. Spin, to be exact.
The inside of the cylinder took on a freaky translucent look, like looking through saran wrap, and it was suddenly light enough to see. It rotated down, deep into the Earth, like a drill, through layers upon layers of magma, molten metal. Matt named them in his head as they passed. A failing attempt to keep calm. This didn’t help him, as temperatures ought to be up in the thousands, fahrenheit, and it was still a cool 60º in their coffin.
Zach, who was still utterly unfazed by this disturbing change of events sat cross-legged, leaning against a wall that looked as if it should be solid magma, and burning hot. The effect was a little disorienting.
Jackson shivered crouching down low, his face as pale as the sky in the twilight hours of the morning before the sun has decided to peer over the horizon.
They reached what Matt recognized to be the Earth’s core in about an hour.
“It’s the co--” he started to croak, and then was thrust into mind blowing pressure.
Jackson and Matt blacked out. Zachary paid no attention, and still sat leaning back, as if none of this affected him in the first place. Eventually, he closed his eyes, and nodded off, head lolling on his right shoulder, mouth agape.

Muggy heat and sand filled the lungs and crusted Zach’s eyes as he pulled the still unconscious forms of Matt and Jackson from the elevator tube thing.
The first thing he noticed was a skittering sound, like a mouse trying to run on ice.
He looked around as the sound continued, and saw nothing.
“Mmm...” he said outloud to himself, “That was weird...”
He laid the other two down in the hot, rocky, orange-yellow dirt, and stood between them, turning a 360º, in search for something. The only thing he saw was a city, seemingly multiple miles away, and a small pond . Nothing else. Flat, dry, hot land.
He stalked towards the pond, shuffling his feet over the rough terrain, blowing up a miniature dust storm. It wasn’t that he couldn’t walk normally; he just preferred this way.
As he reached the pond, or what he thought was the pond from a distance, he saw that it wasn’t much of a pond at all. It was a pool full of shimmery half-clear, half-solid black liquid. Like black oil mixed with water.
It occurred to Zach that drinking this... liquid could lead to his death, or worse. What the worse option could have been was something Zach had no interest in finding out.
He backed away quickly, finding something startling about this odd pond, and back to where Jackson and Matt were finally stirring.

* * *

When Matt first opened his eyes, the thing he immediately noticed wasn’t the heat, the way his eyes were determined to close against the bright sun, or that he was nowhere he could recognize on a map of the Earth, but that he was surrounded by small white creatures. Don’t think fluffy bunnies. Think velociraptors with pulsing red veins, beady black eyes that twitched unnervingly as they followed his eye movement.
Before he could really study them, they scampered away with the sound of metal skipping across hardwood.
Jackson reached over, his face pale, and grabbed Matt’s nonexistent right tricep, his hand quivering, “You saw those, too, right?”
Matt nodded shakily, “Yeah, yeah I did.”
“W-W-What were they?” Jackson stammered.
“No idea... They looked like baby dinosaurs,” chills ran from the nape of Matt’s neck down his spine, causing him to shiver violently, despite the heat of the day.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Zach joined them again, “You two look like you’ve seen a ghost. What happened?”
Jackson just stared at him. Matt seemed lost for words.
“What? Haven’t you ever heard me talk before?”
“Uh, actually, I haven’t,” Jackson shrugged nonchalantly, “But, well, we sorta did see a ghost. How did you not see those little midget dinosaur thingies that were here a second ago?”
“Midget dinosaur thingies?” Zach raised one eyebrow.
Matt nodded, “He’s not hallucinating.”
“Well, I don’t know what to think about that, but that pond over there, it’s not water. We’ll dehydrate if we don’t get water within a couple of hours. There’s only one place we can go that could possibly have any,” Zach pointed towards the town.
Matt looked miffed that Zach was the one to be geeky, not him.
“So we should just start walking?” Jackson looked bewildered.
“What else are we gonna do, dipthong?” Zach stared at him.
“Dipthong?” Matt snickered, “You do know that means when two vowel sounds are slurred together to make one, right?”
Zach didn’t blush, but his cheeks got a pinker tinge than normal. Dipthong apparently wasn’t the word he had in mind, “Well, whatever! Let’s just go.”
“Fine, fine,” Matt held up his hands in compliance, and rose to his feet.
“Oy, Chuckles, are you coming with us?”
Matt hadn’t noticed that Jackson was in a fit of laughter on the ground.
“Dipthong!” he gasped over and over again.
“Yo, Jack to the Son, we’re just gonna leave you behind,” Zach poked him impatiently with his toe.
“Dipthong,” he giggled one last time, which was odd to hear, then rose to his feet, and brushed sand or dirt or whatever was on the ground off his butt.
“Come on,” Zach set off at a brisk pace, dust already making his tongue dry and gritty.

* * *

So thirsty. It’s hot. I’m thirsty. How much further? Is that town really there? I’m tired. Hungry. We’ve been walking for an hour or two. Maybe even three. That town isn’t getting any closer.
“How much further?” Jackson whined.
Zach looked at him with disdain, “Matt? How long have we been walking?”
Matt glanced at his watch, then laughed, “Ten minutes. Jackson, come on, you’re a jock. Toughen up.”

* * *

The sun reached the high point in the meridian, and set sail for the western horizon, casting a fiery orange glow over the miles upon miles of sand.
The three boys, at last, after several hours of walking, approached a city that looked surprisingly put-together. There were no broken windows, or uneven sidewalks. Everything looked futuristic, completely stainless steel, or a mysteriously shiny white material that was reflecting the stars in the open air. The whole city seemed overly smooth.
Streetlights were placed carefully in parallel lines at perfectly even intervals. This gave Matt the sense that the city was set out in a grid. The next thing Matt became aware of was that there were no tire tracks on the slick roads. They looked like an ice rink immediately after a zamboni run.
The lights casted off a creepy phosphorescent light above, and didn’t give off the comforting orange glow that usually encompassed a city in the night. The pure white light out of round, seamless lamps gave the place a hostile air, and Matt had the thought that they were unwelcome.
This thought was reassured when Zach touched his foot to where the sidewalk began, into the city, or ended into the desert. Vicious looking red lasers shot out from tiny crevasses in the walls around. Crevasses that hadn’t been there moments before. How they appeared was a mystery to anybody. Matt assumed they would have sliced Zach into a lovely human filet cut for whatever monsters lived here. Maybe those little white dinosaurs they’d seen earlier.
Thinking of them, he got the sense of being watched, and for once found himself missing the loud streets and dancing, flickering, twinkling city lights of his own home.
“I guess we’re out here for tonight,” Zach eyed the lasers anxiously.
“Yeah, but the good news is,” Jackson said hoarsely, “Water.”

Zach rushed to the little stream that was trickling through the city in a creepy, man-made fashion. It was clear, looked perfectly clean, and was clearly what the people in the city drank.
Matt cupped his hand, and got the biggest handful he could manage. Before drinking it, he swished it around his palms for a minute or two.
“It looks safe,” he shrugged, and trickled it into his mouth, ignoring the water that was now dribbling down his front, “Tastes safe, too.”
“Then let us drink!” Jackson exclaimed, preparing to plunge his face into the miniature river.
“Dude!” Zach grabbed around his neck.
Jackson went still, and Zach let go as fast as he had grabbed on.
“Sorry,” he took a step back, and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, “That was... A lil’ awkward...”
Silence.
“Why don’t you want me to drink it?” Jackson looked confused.
Zach didn’t respond.
Matt intervened, saving them from more uncomfortable silence, “It’s just, you don’t want to put your face in... It’s probably not sanitary, and we don’t really want to kill whoever is in the city, in case you’ve got some disease that’s not been exposed here.”
“Oh. So I should just scoop it up and drink it?” Jackson shrugged, making a cup out of his hands.
“Yeah,” Matt nodded.
“Learning quickly, are you?” Zach scowled, and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
As Jackson guzzled down water, Matt grabbed Zach by the elbow, “Look man, I know, he’s an idiot, but you’ve gotta learn to work with him. We’re stuck out here, and who knows how long it might be?”
Zach pulled his arm away, a dark expression still plastered on his face.
“Look, I know, you’ve had it rough. You’re an orphan. You had to live on the streets for a year. You’ve been fostered who knows how many times. You’re stereotyped, you hate life, you’re resentful of Jackson for being such a doofus, and still being loved by everyone.”
Zach’s face softened a bit, then he got defensive. “Where did you learn all that stuff?”
“It’s not that hard. All it takes is listening sometimes.”
“Since when did I ever talk to you?” he spat.
“You don’t remember?” Matt’s face fell as though his knowledge had been disproved.
“Remember what?” Zach couldn’t help being curious at this point. What event had he forgotten that had involved this kid?
“On the first day of school in fifth grade?”
“You’re kidding me. That was you?” It was as if Zach’s world was falling apart. Yes. He remembered. He recalled perfectly.
“Yeah. You were new. You met me. You pretty much ranted about your life for about 20 minutes during recess. I had to transfer schools about three weeks later. Then, last year, freshmen year, I came back. Nobody remembered me, but I remembered you.”
“Well that makes you sound like a stalker,” Zach backed away uncertainly.
“How could I forget, Zach? You were the first person I knew who didn’t think life was just hunky-dory. You kinda exposed me to the wo--”
“WAIT! Don’t go all deep spaz on me. And your friend’s done glugging water.”
“He’s not my friend any more than he is yours.”
“Oh, yeah?” Zach challenged.
“Hey, dude, I’ve got a stereotype, too. You’re not the only one. Stop thinking you’re so gosh darn special!” Matt dug his fingernails into his palms, and realized they were both curled into fists, “I’m done talking with you,” he announced, then stalked away.
Zach jammed his hands into his pockets, and stormed after him, knowing, whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to stay with the group.
He started to ponder his life as he shuffled back through the sand.
Mom died when I was just little. That wasn’t fair. Not at all. Then... There was Dad... But, well, that’s a different story altogether. I run from home when I’m eleven, and live wherever. When I’m twelve, those representatives from the Child Protective Services find me. They bring me to the Costellos to be fostered. I get moved around a lot. I finally end up somewhere I can live. I get all dark... I lose friends. I become this. What happened? Why is it fair that I had to go through this? Why not anybody else?
He reached the group again, and his restless thoughts settled into the recesses of his mind. He kept his cold gaze cast at the ground.
Matt and Jackson were both sitting down, and seemed to be talking.
Zach didn’t bother to listen, just leaned against one of the edges of the trough that was carrying the ever-flowing water into that weird city. He assumed they’d explore once the garish sun showed its face again.
Zach let himself fall down onto the ground, and watch the stars twinkle like blinking eyes, light years and light years away.
He pretended they were the eyes of that girl from school, Nadine. She was the only one who ever smiled at him, and her eyes twinkled when they made eye contact for a second.
He was both embarrassed by his imagination, and a little flustered. He turned away from the other two boys, who were both finally lying down, so they wouldn’t see him blush.
He grinned to himself, and let his eyes slip shut.

Matt was awoken by the sun, and another strange scuttering sound. “ARRRGGGH!” He jolted up, and tried to get a look at the scaly white things darting from him, yet again.
Zach flailed around on the ground, and scrambled to sit up, “What? What is it?”
“It’s just... Those things, again. The baby dinosaurs. I -- I -- I think they were watching us sleep,” Matt exhaled shakily.
Zach giggled just a little at the proclamation, “So, we have little velociraptor stalkers?”
“Well, they’re not really stalkers, because they’re not following. They’re just watchers.”
“Watchers in the night!” Zach bursted into hysterical laughter.
“No, I’m not kidding, dude! You know, I think you’re a little screwy in the head.”
“Ahh, whatever. We’re being watched. Observed. And it’s pretty obvious that they wouldn’t watch us without cataloguing everything we do.”
“Great, so now we’re being watched, and pretty much recorded by, whatever those things are.”
Jackson started to stir from Matt’s right.
“Talk about this later, ‘kay? Don’t want to freak him out.”
Zach nodded, “That’s the last thing we need.”
Jackson rubbed sleep from his eyes, hands curled into fists, “Mornin’, guys... Wha-- Wha-- Wh--” he failed to stifle a huge yawn, “What time is it?”
Matt shrugged, “Doesn’t really matter, does it? All we know is that the sun means day, and the dark means night. Nothing else is really going to effect us. Who knows if they even use the same clocks here?”
Jackson opened his eyes all the way, and looked around, seeming shocked for a second before exclaiming, “Holy crap! I forgot we were here.”
Zach rose his eyebrows, and Matt shot him a look to say, Let him be. Zach rolled his eyes at Matt, and flipped his hair over to the right side of his face with an air of not caring.
“Hey, guys, d’you think the lasers are off this morning?” Jackson let out the first helpful comment that had been heard from him since they’d been trapped.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Matt rose his eyebrows, having forgotten the reason they were sleeping in the desert at all.
“We should send somebody in to check. I nominate Jackson,” Zach said coldly.
“Zach!” Matt scolded.
Zach chuckled darkly to himself, “I was just having a go...” he smirked.
“Just lay off--”
“STOP IT!” Jackson interjected, “All I asked was if the lasers were gone. Who wants to test?”
Before the question could be answered, a metallic female voice like one might hear announcing flight times in an airport rang out from somewhere in the city, chanting, “Wake up call. Wake up call.”
The three boys clapped their hands over their ears as the voice resonated, pounding against the inside of theirs skulls.
The city, however, seemed to come to life. Doors here and there were flung open, and ordinary looking people strode out. Some adults in a business like manner, clad in suits. Others in a simple t-shirt and jeans. Teenagers shuffled here and there, in groups of three or four, chatting animatedly. Toddlers chased through people’s legs.
“Hey, is it just me, or is that a little weird?” Matt had one eyebrow cocked above the other.
Zach shrugged, having not really noticed.
Jackson seemed to be distracted by a rather attractive girl who was making her way down the sidewalk towards them, “Gosh, she’s pretty,” he sighed in a strange dreamy way.
“Put your eyeballs back in your head, Jack,” Matt clapped him on the shoulder, “Who knows where we are?
“Hey, you three?” the girl called out, “You do realize you’re not invisible, right?” She picked up her pace to a gentle jog, and arrived in front of them within a few seconds.
Jackson seemed abnormally flustered, cracking his knuckles, and running his fingers through his hair.
“Who are you?” the girl eyed them curiously, clapping her hands together behind her back.
“I’m Matt,” Matt said a little too quickly, then flushed slightly. He hated talking to girls, especially girls who could be preparing to kill them, and they wouldn’t know any the wiser.
“Zach,” he inclined his head towards her.
Jackson opened his mouth to say his name, but the only thing that escaped was a strange gulping sound.
“Jack,” Zach added in a rush, thinking it might buy them time, “But, then, who’re you?”
“Call me Alice,” she stuck her hands in her pockets defiantly, “Technically, my names Alicia Kay, but... no. Just Alice.”
“Pleasure to meetcha, Alice,” Jack seemed to have found his voice again. He attempted to be his best gentleman, and put off a chivalrous air by taking her hand in his, and lightly touching his lips to the back of it.
The tops of her cheeks turned a rosy pink, only making her prettier. Her enchantingly green eyes, honey-colored hair, perfect complexion and soft pink lips had the three boys in a slight daze.
“Where did you come from?” Alice was still staring at them crudely, even though it was obvious the boys would bend to her every will.
“Better question is, where are we?” Matt, unsurprisingly, was the first one to blink back to reality, shaking his head like he was warding off a bothersome fly.
It was Alice’s turn to be confused, “What do you mean, ‘where are we?’”
“Well, we’re obviously not from here, otherwise we’d be in the city, now wouldn’t we?” Zach also returned from his momentary girl-stupor.
“But, you have no idea -- Okay, how did you get here?” she interrupted herself.
“A tube-ish... elevator... thingy,” Matt waved his hands while he spoke, then dropped them hopelessly at his sides, “I don’t know... We just... We just got here. We were on Earth one minute, then BAM, into an elevator kind of thing, then, SHAZAAM, here.”
“... Earth?”
That’s when Jack returned to reality, “Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean, you don’t know... Earth?”
Alice shook her head.
“So, if you don’t know... That means... We’re not...” Jack paled as he faded out, “Where are we?”
“Well, even if you can’t explain how or why you’re here... I guess I have to be a hostess. You’re on Zhataan. That’s the planet, anyway. This is Area 74. We’ve got four hundred square miles before you’ll hit Area 73, 75, 64, or 54. Our city here takes up about 49 of those. The desert is the rest. You’re lucky you poofed in just a few miles out. Otherwise you would have been stuck with no water for who knows how long,” Alice finished her spiel with, “Well, I guess I have to bring you into the city. Arms out. Oh. You need to have the right to pass to get past the city’s lasers.”
Zach gave her a strange look, and held out his right arm hesitantly.
From a back pocket, Alice produced a little syringe, filled with an acidic green liquid.
Zach flinched, and then pulled his arm away. He wasn’t the worlds’ biggest fan of needles, in any way, shape, or form.
“Don’t worry. It’s just going to numb you so your Scarab won’t hurt,” Alice put on a gentle, reassuring voice, and slowly coaxed his arm back out to her.
She held Zach’s wrist in one hand, and the shot in the other. Before Zach could react, or ask what on Earth -- Or perhaps, what on Zhataan was a better term -- a Scarab was, she’d slipped the needle into his forearm, pumped out the liquid, and taken it back out again.
A strange, blissful sensation spiraled up his arm, starting at his wrist, and stopping at his elbow.
Alice reached into her other pocket, and produced an orange perscription bottle seeming to contain only one thing: a tiny, shimmery-gold bead.
All three of the boys eyed it nervously, but again, Alice explained, “It makes it so the lasers won’t slice you in half. You want this, I promise,” she opened the bottle, and held up the bead for Zach to examine:
Up close, it became obvious that it was a miniscule beetle. Two sapphire eyes glinted in the sunlight.
“So, just hold really still for a moment, please.”
Zach tensed up, and she placed the Scarab on his numb arm. It scuttled along until it found a place it seemed to like.
That’s when it got to be a little disturbing.
The Scarab’s tiny legs stabbed downwards, penetrating into Zach’s skin, forming a deep cut about a centimeter long.
Blood rushed from his arm, but all the while, he felt nothing.
The Scarab fitted itself snugly into the hole it had created, and then moved under his skin, until it met a crevice in his muscle, and lodged itself there. Zach could see the little lump under his skin.
He shuddered from fear, and was very thankful he’d been numbed before this procedure had taken place.
“Now, just one more thing,” Alice pulled another little bottle out of her pocket. She unstoppered it, and with the lid came an eye dropper. She filled it with whatever essence was in the bottle, and put three drops onto the cut the Scarab had made. It sealed almost immediately, and simply looked like an old scar within seconds.
Zach stared at his arm, wondering if he’d ever feel the same way about life again.
“Just to warn you, that arm might be a bit sore after the numbness fades, so easy on it for a little while, okay?” Alice gave him an accusing look.
Zach nodded his consent.
“Now, who’s next?”
Matt went after Zach, the only difference in the procedure being that his Scarab had emerald colored eyes.
Jackson was last, with a Scarab with ruby eyes. Jackson’s turn was awkward, as he flinched at Alice’s cool hands, or maybe just her touch in general, and his Scarab lodged itself in a strange place so that it created a visible lump in his forearm.
“So with that,” Alice stowed her various bottles and needles back in her pockets, “Welcome to the city.”

The three boys followed Alice to the city’s edge, where they teetered, none of them wanting to be the first to go through the force that was keeping them out.
Alice, however, didn’t stop, and simply walked on as if she weren’t passing through invisible lasers that, without a Scarab, were intent on slicing her to bite-sized nougats.
She kept walking onwards for several seconds, then stopped, waited for a few seconds, and turned, raising her eyebrows at the boys, calling, “Well, are you coming in, or not? No offense, but I think you all need to come in and get cleaned up before meeting the Kwagor.”
“Well, here goes nothing,” Matt stepped through the laser field. When he reached the other side, a delighted smile spread his face, “It’s like stepping through a layer of cool water. Go on.”
Jack didn’t hesitate, and bounded on through, “You’re right. Just like a baby waterfall.”
Zach snickered at this proclamation, and sauntered through as well.
“Great, so you’ve all made it, just like I said you would. Amazing,” Alice held up her hands sarcastically, “Now come on, you have to come to my house, get cleaned off, then go meet the Kwagor. Then he’ll assign you living arrange--”
“Okay, girl, hold up,” Jack interjected, “Who is this Kwagor guy?”
Neither Matt or Zach wanted to admit that they had both been wondering the exact same thing.
“You’re kidding, right?” Alice’s shoulders drooped, “You don’t even know what a Kwagor is?”
“He’s not kidding,” Matt raised his shoulders and dropped them again, “We’re not from around here. We don’t know what a lot of stuff is. Seriously. The technology here is so insanely advanced. I can just see that from looking around. You don’t even have locks on your doors. Hand print scanners,” he gestured, “We’re just from a simpler place where you have a leader. Or a president.”
“President?” Alice chuckled, “Presidents were abolished centuries ago. You’ll see. Having a Kwagor is a much more effective way to govern people. We never have crime problems or anything here, and all the Areas get along. No war. So much better than in years past.”
“Oh, well, I see. Hey, speaking of years, what year is it here?” Zach was suddenly interested in the conversation.
“4011.”
“Nice. It’s 2011 in our home. One more question. How do you speak English?” he asked suspiciously, as if he was catching on to something new.
“I don’t know. It’s the language I learned when I was born. Everybody in this town speaks it... It’s been around for as long as I know of. Of course, there’s always Zhatanian, but that’s only inside peoples’ heads. You couldn’t speak it, because we developed it. But you’re right. It’s strange. We come from different planets, and yet, speak the same tongue. We even look the same. You guys aren’t weird like an alien I would expect. You just look... Human,” Alice slowly decided on the right word.
“Whoa, you can talk inside each other’s heads? That’s so cool... Can you talk to us? Well, it might be because we are human... Huh. Who would have guessed there was life twice as old as us on another planet, yet exactly the same... It’s a bit peculiar.”
I think so, too. Well, alas, we have to keep going before too many people see us here. Nobody else knows about you guys, yet, and we’d best keep it that way. Alice’s voice said inside Zach’s head.
Jack and Matt whirled around, looking for the source of the voice.
“Wait, wait, wait, did you just talk to all three of us in our own heads?” Jack gave her a wide-eyed look.
“Yes, yes, I did,” Alice said out loud, “And you heard what I said. Let’s move.”
It didn’t occur to any of the boys that she’d described them as human. As if she were, too.
Without question, the three boys followed Alice through rows and rows of perfect, pristine, little houses, as she moved confidently, not pausing to look down streets, or take note of how many intersections they’d passed.
Finally, she stood in front of a white house that was shaped like a dome. She pressed her hand against the scanner, and there was a wild sound of clicking and clanking as locks undid themselves, and the door slid out of it’s position, reminding Matt of a rocket ship.
“Are your parents home?” Zach asked tentatively, not sure if they’d be alright with their daughter bringing home three random boys she’d found outside the city.
“I don’t live with my parents.”
“Why not?” Matt joined the conversation.
Jack was busy setting his eyes about the room, like he was trying to take in every detail.
“Because you move away from your parents once you’re twelve. You’re supposed to learn to take care of yourself. When you’re fifteen, you get a job. From twelve to fifteen, you live in your own house, and get a grip on the world. Or... The city, at least,” Alice sighed.
Jack was suddenly alive again, “You really wish you could get out of here, don’t you?”
“Yes... It’s been building for a while, and meeting you all here... You’ve come from so far away, but, there’s no really saying where, or who you are, or what you’ve seen... It just makes me wonder what else is out there... And, it just gets lonely. I don’t have many friends, and I can’t get away from here... It’s like I’m trapped inside myself.”
“I’m sorry,” Jackson took a step forward and made to hug her.
Alice screamed, shoved him away, fell backwards, and scooted along the floor frantically to a wall, breathing quickly, “WHY WOULD YOU--”
“What did I--”
“DO SUCH A--”
“Do? It was--”
“THING?! IT’S AGAINST--”
“Just a hug!”
“THE LAW!”
There was an intense silence as they both stared at each other, Jack wide-eyed, not knowing what had gone wrong, and Alice with a panicky, threatened look to her.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What just went wrong there?” Even Matt was bewildered.
“He hugged me!”
“Um, yes. It’s called being friendly...” Jack stared at her, seeming surprisingly intuitive.
“It’s illegal!”
Zach pondered all the ways in which hugging could be harmful, and came up with none, “... Why?”
“I don’t know, it just is!”
“But, there’s got to be a reason, right?”
“I don’t think it matters. It’s just down in the rulebook under the romance section.” Alice said with a completely straight face.
“There’s a romance section in the book of laws?” Zach ogled at her.
“Yes. Do you want to see it?”
“Umm...” Matt snickered, “Sure.”
Alice stood up, appearing to have gotten over her momentary panic attack, strode to a bookshelf that was loaded with novels, and a gigantic, black, leather-bound book, which she pulled off the shelf, and heaved onto a table in the center of the room.
She opened it up and slid her finger down the table of contents, pausing about a third of the way down, then started leafing through the book.
As each page turned, Matt thought, leaf... Leaf... leafleaf... LEAFLEAFLEAFLEAFLEAFLEAFLEAF!
Finally, she came to a rest on a page that read:
Romance Violations
- Embracing
- Hand holding
- “Flirting”
- Living with a person of the opposite sex whom is not one’s spouse
- Reproducing without permission from the Kwagor
- Suggestive dancing
- Inappropriate touching between sexes
- Having a spouse whom was not designated by the kwagor
- kissing

Any violation of rules is illegal, and must be reported to the government system immediately. Anyone in violation is subject to a court trial, and any punishment so designated by the court.

As he finished the page, Zach actually laughed, “I could be put in jail because I kissed a girl?”
“Of course you could! Have you any idea how dangerous that is?”
Zach found himself laughing again, “Dangerous? Never considered it dangerous in my life.”
“Wait, so you... You’ve...” Alice’s voice lowered to a whisper, “You’ve kissed somebody?”
“You mean you haven’t?” Zach deliberately avoided her question.
“Of course not!”
“Oh. Well... On Earth, it’s... pretty common.”
“Oh. Well... Not here. I suggest not trying it.”
The awkwardness in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“Umm... The shower’s upstairs... You three can... Go... Meet back down here when you’re... Umm... Yes.”
With that Alice shuffled off to another room.