Breakthrough

Chapter 7

At the entrance of their room, Kyara noticed that it was Room Number 13. “Let’s hope it’s not a bad omen,” she gulped.

“The app is very laggy,” complained Haedon, jabbing at his phone. “Oh, it’s working now,” he said as the door became unlocked.

Haedon stepped over the threshold and surveyed the motel room. Carpeted with a grey furry material that looked like it would be more at home on the back of a rat, the room was microscopic and contained, as advertised, two single beds, but barely any other furniture save for a small wardrobe. A door at the side probably led to the bathroom, Haedon surmised.

Peeking into the room from the entrance, Kyara spotted dust balls in the corners of the room. She sniffed the air tentatively. “I don’t think they’ve cleaned this room since humans moved underground,” she declared.

“Oh, do stop grumbling,” Haedon said. “You wanted a room, and we’ve got a room now.”

“Sorry, my bad,” said Kyara contritely.

Haedon noticed that Kyara had not moved from her position at the entrance. “Why are you still standing there and not coming in?” he asked.

“The receptionist said that there might be monsters,” Kyara replied in a whisper.

“Are you still in elementary school? There’s no such thing as monsters!” scoffed Haedon.

“That’s what you think,” argued Kyara. “At the waterworks place where my dad used to work, there were quite a couple of unexplained incidents. My dad said he had even seen strange creatures among the pipes.”

“I hate to break this to you, Kyara,” said Haedon, shrugging his shoulders apologetically, “but your dad’s drunk at work half the time.”

“Maybe he was hallucinating?” he wondered optimistically.

“Whatever,” said Kyara. “Anyway, can you please check that there are no monsters in the room before I step in? Where does that door lead to?” she asked, jerking her head toward the door at the side of the room.

To placate Kyara, Haedon strode briskly to the door and flung it wide open. As he had guessed, it led to a bathroom. A dingy one filled with cracked tiles and mould on the damp walls, its only redeeming feature three rolls of toilet paper. Haedon also made a show of looking under the beds and examining the wardrobe, where two tired clothes hangers hung crookedly.

“Satisfied now?” Haedon asked sarcastically.

“Thanks, Haedon!” Kyara grinned. “Can I use the bathroom first?” Without waiting for an answer, she flew to the bathroom and locked herself in it. Soon, the sound of water gushing from the shower filled the air.

Haedon smiled and stretched himself out on the bed. I might as well take a nap, he thought. No telling how long that woman will take in the bathroom. In no time at all, Haedon was fast asleep, serenaded by Kyara’s enthusiastic but decidedly off-key rendition of We Are The Champions.

Haedon awoke with a start to see Kyara using her phone, her hair wrapped in a towel.

“I’m texting my mom to tell her we’ve moved to this motel. She was a little worried about us sleeping in the rough,” Kyara explained.

She grinned impishly at Haedon. “I thought someone said he was going to conceive a grand plan to infiltrate Queen Imperiala’s palace and meet with his brother,” she teased.

“You nabbed the bathroom first,” Haedon retorted, “and who knows who long you would spend there? Anyway, I guess I had been running on fumes for the past two weeks. That was the most refreshing sleep I’ve had since Aunt Sav got sick.”

Kyara chortled, “I’m just messing with you. I’m glad you had a good rest. Shall we check out what the lovely lake side has to offer? I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

Other girls are always on diets. I’m lucky to be with a girl who likes to eat as much as I do, Haedon murmured happily to himself.

“Did you say something?” asked Kyara.

“Oh, I just said that I want a quick shower, and then we can go. Why don’t you grab an energy bar? You can eat that that before we get some actual food later,” said Haedon, turning away to hide from Kyara the blush which was unfolding across his cheeks.

After a shower (with lots of lovely hot water), Haedon felt and looked like himself again. Kyara had made quick work of her energy bar. As they exited the room, she handed an energy bar to Haedon.

They ambled to the shores of the lake, taking in the scene with interest. Unlike lakes on land, which had rippling waves due to the transfer of wind energy to the water, the surface of the underground lake was hauntingly still.

In contrast to downtown, where lights lit up the cityscape, making it as bright as a supernova, the lake and its environs were veiled in nebulous gloom, punctuated only by a staccato of lights, mostly from campfires, Haedon guessed.

As their eyes adjusted to the murky surroundings, they realised that there were quite a number of groups, some of them families from the looks of it, camped around the lake. Spotting the people, Kyara became self-conscious and hung behind Haedon for safety, as was her wont.

A baby wailed and its mother hastened to coo at it comfortingly. Young scrawny children played games of tag and soccer, weaving their way expertly around the tents and campfires.

The unkempt lakeside residents regarded Haedon and Kyara with interest. Their shabby, ill-fitting clothes and meagre possessions bore sad testament to their poverty. However, they looked friendly, and a gaunt man, his face pockmarked by sores oozing pus, waved them towards the pot of stew that was bubbling on a campfire in front of him, inviting them to share his meal.

Haedon and Kyara glanced at each other and by unspoken agreement, decided not to take up the man’s generous offer, as he looked as if he needed the meal more than they did.

Kyara clutched Haedon’s arm from behind. “This isn’t what they tell us in the textbooks,” she breathed.

Haedon nodded. In school, they had been taught that the Underground was a paradise where everyone was successful, and blessed with good jobs and safe happy homes.

The teachers, on their part, exhorted the students to study hard so that they could get a chance to participate in Queen Imperiala’s awards scheme, which promised a comfortable home and a stable job to Surface dwellers who were willing to work for her. Haedon recalled the posters that were prominently displayed everywhere from schools and shopping areas to lamp posts and office buildings. They flaunted the life that Surface dwellers could aspire to – a life with no poverty, no sorrow, no illness.

On hindsight, Haedon realised that he could not think of anyone who had become successful after migrating from the Surface to the Underground. In fact, even travelling from the Surface to the Underground presented an almost insurmountable challenge for most people. Aunt Savyla was one of the rare individuals who had been given the role of resource allocation. Typically, such positions were held by trusted members of the Authority, who lived in the Underground, and only ventured to the Surface when it was absolutely necessary to do so.

It seemed like the textbooks were simply spouting propaganda, with the teachers blindly following the national narrative. Or was that because they did not have any other option? Haedon mused shrewdly. He sneaked a glance at Kyara, and from the expression on her face, realised that she had come to the same conclusion.

Haedon gave Kyara’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

They wondered what else the Authorities had been lying to Surface dwellers about.

Lost in thought, Haedon did not notice a small boy swiftly manoeuvring a soccer ball towards him. The boy was only intent on getting the football into the goal located beyond Haedon, and did not notice Haedon either. He collided heavily into Haedon, and Haedon let out an irate shout as he fell, landing painfully on his butt.

Getting up with difficulty, Haedon glared balefully at the boy, who lay sprawled on the ground beside him.

“Sorry, mister,” said the little boy, springing to his feet. “But you’re the one at fault. You’re standing in our soccer pitch,” he pointed out.

Haedon looked around, puzzled. A look of comprehension crossed his face as he made out several pairs of shoes a few metres away marking out a rudimentary pair of goal posts.

“Sorry, kid. I didn’t see that,” apologised Haedon.

Walking to the ball, which had ended up near him, Haedon raised his foot in preparation to kick the ball back to the child. To his complete surprise, the ball took off from the ground of its own accord and glided smoothly in the air before landing gracefully on the child’s outstretched palm.

Haedon and Kyara looked at each other in amazement. This little boy could move objects! If that was the case, he would need to be deployed to serve Queen Imperiala, or face severe punishment or even death.

Haedon stepped forward, planning to ask the boy about his power. Before he could do so, however, a woman came up behind the boy and cuffed him none too gently on the back of his head.

“How many times have I told you not to use your power in public?” she hissed angrily.

“Sorry, mom. I forgot,” replied the boy, rubbing the spot on his head where his mother had swatted him.

The little boy winked at Haedon as his mother, still muttering angrily, dragged him back to their tent.

“Look out! What’s that?” said Kyara suddenly, pointing upwards.

A drone was hovering above their heads. It was turning this way and that, while emitting a series of beeps.

People came out of their tents to stare at the drone. A gaggle of children pointed at the drone fearfully. Unlike Haedon and Kyara, they knew what the arrival of a drone meant.

“It seems to be searching for something,” Kyara noted.

“I think that’s a camera on the side,” said Haedon, spotting the shiny glass of a camera lens.

“You’re right,” said the man who had offered them a meal earlier. “All the images caught by the drone are recorded and transmitted in real time back to Queen Imperiala’s headquarters. Drones are used to maintain law and order. There aren’t enough people to serve as police officers, so drones are used to fill the gap.”

Frowning a little, he took a closer look at the drone. “I think this drone is in arrest mode though. I wonder which unfortunate soul it’s out to capture.”

Suddenly, the drone darted towards a nearby tent. The owner of the tent had evidently spotted the drone’s approach, and had rapidly zipped up the tent. The drone buzzed angrily as it tried to gain entry into the tent.

“The drone is after Cawbun,” said a woman nearby. Kyara turned around to see who was speaking and realised that it was the mother of the child who had ploughed into Haedon earlier. “His daughter has asthma and they can’t afford the medicine that she needs regularly. Cawbun ended up stealing the medication from a pharmacy,” she revealed. “After his wife died, he went to pieces and couldn’t concentrate at work. He got the sack not long after.”

Meanwhile, Haedon was observing the drone carefully. He had a crazy idea which he did not know whether would work. “Are drones waterproof?” he murmured to Kyara.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Be careful of the camera though. You don’t want your face to be recorded and sent back to the Queen’s HQ,” Kyara advised.

Haedon nodded. Turning his back to the drone, he took a stick and wrote in the sand, “Have water gun?” Putting a finger on his lips to warn the children to keep quiet, he motioned them forward to read his message.

One of the children nodded eagerly and ran off, coming back with an old water pistol. Continuing to keep his back to the drone, Haedon walked to the lake, dipped the water pistol in it, and filled it to its maximum capacity. He tested the mechanism – thankfully, it still functioned well.

Digging into his pocket Haedon pulled out a face mask. A face mask was an indispensable item that all Surface dwellers had with them at all times, to keep the risk of catching diseases at bay. Old habits die hard, and Haedon and Kyara routinely carried face masks with them everywhere.

Haedon fitted the mask over his face so that it covered his face from below his eyes down to his chin. Kyara helped him to fluff his long fringe, normally swept to both sides in a centre parting, over his forehead, so that only his eyes were visible.

Taking careful aim at the drone, which was still trying to gain access into Cawbun’s tent, Haedon shot the water pistol, unleashing a stream of water that landed squarely on the drone. To the crowd’s delight, the drone sputtered and short-circuited, and spun in the air a few times before spiralling to the ground with an electronic death rattle.

One of the men called out to Cawbun, “It’s safe for you to come out now, you and your daughter.” Tentatively, Cawbun parted the flaps of his tent. The man explained to Cawbun how Haedon had shot down the drone with a mere water pistol, pointing at Haedon throughout his explanation.

Another man advised Cawbun and his daughter to depart for another location immediately as the drone, before it died, would have sent its location to headquarters. Cawbun and his daughter needed to be gone before any back up drones arrived.

Cawbun strode over to Haedon and held the latter’s hands in his own beefy palms. “Thank you for saving me and my daughter today.”

Embarrassed by the attention on him, Haedon said awkwardly, “I heard why you stole the medicine. You had better go before more drones come.”

“Thank you, I won’t forget what you did today,” declared Cawbun before returning to his tent.

Haedon and Kyara were tired out from the excitement and decided to return to their motel room. Halfway, they turned back and saw Cawbun disappearing into the darkness, his daughter by his side, and their worldly possessions on his back.