Spoiler! :
“Forget safety, let’s just take the sonic-train to school!” Kevin mutters. He pulls his shoulder strap up higher and shifts his weight impatiently. The huge dome ceiling, complete with skylights, looms over the station platform. People walk in front of him, in a hurry to start their day. High heels, boots, polished shoes, but not very many sneakers. Which means that there aren’t a lot of kids at the station, which means they’re not taking the trains to school, which means they have other means of getting there.
Unlike me. Kevin thinks bitterly.
Most thirteen-year-olds would have some other method of getting to school. Kevin’s only option, however, is the sonic-train.
Huge flat screens hang from the ceiling, blaring the mid-morning news over the multitude of pedestrians. Something on the big words at the side of the screen catches Kevin’s attention. A woman reporter is standing in front of a totalled building that appears to have been a bank. From what can be heard over the echoing station area, the words ‘robbery’ and ‘altered-ability’ stand out. Kevin furrows his eyebrows at the mention of the politically-correct term for people with mutations. The camera moves on to show the shattered doorway and then the inside. The destruction is incapable of being caused by any ordinary human with a weapon. Shredded offices chairs, charred desks, even one of the support pillars litter the once-elaborate bank.
Then they play interviews with several people on the street. One woman shakes her head, looking quite upset. “All I want is the safety of my children, and if they’re going to allow these . . . animals to run the streets, then I just might be leaving!”
Kevin lowers his eyes from the monitors. He masks his face in an unconcerned expression. The mutant situation didn’t matter to him. People leaving Nita did. If they leave, the company his father commands will lose billions of dollars. Which means more tension in the Starskye apartment. Not like there wasn’t enough now.
He jolts to attention by the hissing air brakes as the train pulls in the station. Pulling his shoulder bag up again, he makes his way through the people and onto the train. He holds his pass up to the scanner by the door and steps in. The train is busy today. Actually he can’t think of a time when it wasn’t. There’s an empty seat near the back without anyone sitting beside him. Once he drops into the high-backed seating, he pulls his handheld computer from his pocket to check his messages. There’s over twenty; he ignores them and puts the device back to sleep mode.
There’s a dull hum as the train’s quadruple engines warm up. An alarm sounds to warn people to stay away from the track. They take off, in seconds they’re out of the station and quickly picking up speed. Kevin gazes out the window at the city flashing by. Huge skyscrapers carve the horizon into a jagged line. The late morning sun glints off millions of windows. He stares as a particularly enormous scraper appears. It’s so wide things almost feel in slow motion. Then it’s gone and things resume blurring by. He sits back in his seat and looks up. Protecting the entire city is a dome that is made out of a combination of electricity and ultra-fibred glass. Nita’s yellow sky is visible through it. The dome is the most important thing to keep humans alive. It enhances oxygen to breathable levels, it protects from the frequent meteor showers, controls temperature, and keeps gravity to a liveable level. The dome has never failed, and probably never would. There were more backup generators than the times his dad had broken a promise.
Another thing about Nita is its twenty-four-hour days. The massive size of the planet not only caused too much gravity, it also cause longer periods of light or dark. Basically, every other day was dark out. A night day, as it’s called.
He sits, gazing out the window for a while. Nothing but the sound of the occasional muttering between people and the quiet whirring of the train. Without warning, Kevin’s vision whirls. He blinks it away. Seconds later it happens again, this time worse. He gasps in confusion, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he brings a shaking hand up to eye level. It refuses to come into focus, his whole body is trembling now.
He stands up, in a daze and hardly knowing what he’s doing. “Help,” He says, barely audible. The floor curves up to meet him. Then sleep.
Panicked voices. Gentle nudging of the shoulder. Why is dad waking him up already? He wants to sleep more. “Go ‘way,” he mumbles. The nudging persists. With much effort, his eyelids flutter open. A young man leans over him, light brown eyes looking over his face in concern. “Are you okay? Do you feel any pain?”
Kevin blinks, still trying to figure out where he is. Red carpet, chrome paneling- the train!
“Are you hurt?” The young man asks again. He has very light accent that is undistinguishable.
“No. I’m fine.” Kevin goes to sit up on one elbow and immediately sucks his breath in between his teeth. It hurts. A lot. Every muscle, every limb, every inch of skin hurts.
“Can I help you up?”
“Okay.”
He’s hauled to his feet. The dizziness has gone, and it only takes a few staggering back-steps to regain his balance. The man lets go of his wrists.
“Will you be alright?” It seems he can only ask questions.
“Yes. I think so.” Kevin smiles and tries not to flinch from it. As long as they think he’ll be okay, they’ll leave him alone.
“Alright people, back to your seats.” The stewardess says. The onlookers obey. Kevin does the same. Soon the whole car is back to normal, as if nothing happened. The stewardess comes up to him.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything? Perhaps you should be checked at the hospital.”
Kevin stares at her. “No thanks, ma’am. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.”
She nods and leaves, a strong scent of too much perfume left behind.
Already the pain is wearing off. It’s really weird, Kevin has to admit, nothing like this has ever happened to him.
He wants to tell Matilda. She’s been his friend since he was ten, and ever since they’ve been inseparable. Give or take a few arguments.
After a few more minutes, the sonic train began to slow for it’s destination. Kevin set his shoulder bag in his lap and jumped up when they stopped moving. He got off the train with the swarm of passengers and made his way outside, down the crowded street, and toward the school.
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