What happens to citizens after flagging is not a Watcher’s concern. The Love Collective is a many-limbed creature, requiring a vast array of cooperation to work in harmony. You can be assured that when you pass a citizen to another, they will be trained as you have been to handle their responsibility with the utmost loyalty.
So do not waste your mental prowess on things you will not know. You have only to congratulate yourself on performing your duty as you should have done and allow yourself to move on to the next duty that needs be performed.
(Elite Watcher Training Manual, 51st edition, page 59)
“I am so grateful to the Collective for putting me in the Engine Room. But if I have to look at another spreadsheet, I think I’ll scream!” Pim exclaims, dumping her metal tray on the table with a loud clank. The sound makes me jump, dislodging a heap of protein cereal from my spoon. It lands heavily on my uniform, leaving a cold, wet, green blob on my leg.
“I’ll take your spreadsheet and swap it for a console screen,” Cam replies, mouth full of protein goop. Without looking, he passes me a napkin, which I accept gratefully from his hand. The green blob on my uniform spreads wider and soaks further into the material, leaving an unpleasant damp sensation on my skin.
“You can keep your Coding consoles. At least I get the occasional view of a street camera,” Pim retorts. “I mean it’s not much, but I’m closer to seeing Love City for real than you are.”
“Training can be hard,” I say, wishing I could tell everyone exactly how hard it’s been.
“What’s your problem?” Chu spits out. “Isn’t having your own private dorm enough for you? Maybe if you ask nicely, they’ll let you stay away from us lowlings. I’m surprised they let us even talk to you now that you’re such an important Watcher person.”
“Chu! That’s not Approved Lexicon!” Pim gasps.
Angry, I open my mouth to defend myself, but a warning look from Cam stops me.
“Give it a rest, Chu,” Lee interrupts. “Just because you got shot down again, don’t take it out on the rest of us.”
“What?” Chu’s furious eyes glare at Lee, who wilts visibly.
“Never mind,” Lee mumbles, suddenly fascinated by his lunch tray.
Cam holds up a hand. “Chu, just be patient,” he says. “I’m pretty sure she’s ‘old Sif’ more often today. Give it time, and you might find that she goes back to normal for good.”
“When? One second she’s all over me, and the next she’s about to report me as a Hater. How long do I wait? It’s doing my head in.”
“I’m sorry, Chu. If I could do anything to—” I feel a hopeless sense of pity.
“Forget it,” Chu mutters. He lifts his head to stare into the distance. I follow the direction of his gaze and see the cause of his foul mood. Sif and Zin are on a table at the other side of the room, surrounded by larger, beefier boys.
“Don’t worry about those guys,” I try to assure him in a low voice. “They’ll never fraternize.”
Chu’s face remains fixed on the distant table. “For some reason, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“She’s with Hodge,” I point out, seeing the familiar head seated a few places away from Sif. “If there’s anyone you can trust to enforce the no fraternizing rule, it’s him.”
Chu scowls again. “Even he can’t do anything about her right now.”
I search around for some way to change the subject. “Pim, do you really think you’ll get to see Love City?”
Pim smiles at me and does a little excited jiggle in her seat. “That’s what Lover Jenks says. He’s given us a Triumph of Love assignment.”
My eyes widen. “For real? Does that mean you get to see the Triumph festival for yourselves this year?”
Pim glows. “Yep.”
“You’ll be too busy standing in loading docks to have time to enjoy yourselves,” Cam quips.
“Maybe standing in a loading dock is Entertainment for Engine Roomers,” adds Farr, leaning in from her position further down the table. Pim begins to respond, but a loud announcement tone plays over the speakers. We stop mid-mouthful, surprised.
“That’s never happened before,” Cam says worriedly, looking around at the ceiling.
Lee’s expression is tinged with alarm. I can’t help feeling a little nervous too.
“Fire alarm?” Pim wonders, staring around at the stunned dining hall crowd.
I scan the room for some kind of clue. No one is running. And the older Apprentices are sharing excited glances at each other.
“No fire,” I say.
“Attention, Elites,” drones the authoritative announcer voice. “Triumph of Love meeting in the main atrium in twenty minutes. Compulsory attendance.”
The loud musical tone plays again, and the dining room is suddenly ablaze with animated voices.
“Triumph season? Does that mean it will be Triumph season soon?”
“So ready.”
“Do we actually get to be there this time?”
“How many Triumph gifts did you collect last year?”
“Oh man, I danced so much it took a month before I could walk properly!”
“I just want to know which Pleasure Tribe crew will get main stage!”
I look over at Chu in time to see an enigmatic smile cross his face. He looks like the old Chu.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he says, still smiling. He gives a little laugh, then starts eating with more animation than I’ve seen in a long time.
I lean into him. “You can’t do that to me,” I say, delighted by his heightened mood. “What’s made you so happy?”
Chu swallows down a mouthful of food, the self-satisfied look still creasing his face. “47b.” He looks at me, waiting for me to understand what he’s saying.
I frown for a second or two, rummaging through my mind to try and work out what he’s talking about. Then the memory clunks into place. “Ohhh,” I say slowly.
“What?” splutters Cam, looking from Chu to me and then back again. “What am I missing?”
I wait for Chu to reply, but he’s grinning into his food, lost in his own happy thoughts.
I quote from memory, “Elite Regulations, Behavior Standards and Protocol, 47b.iii.: Fraternization rules may be suspended for the duration of Triumph of Love season only.”
Cam looks at me, confused. Then recognition dawns on his face, and his eyes go wide. “Ohhh,” he breathes, nodding. He glances at Chu, who is now staring off into space and grinning like an idiot. “She’s in for a shock, isn’t she?”
I grimace. “I don’t think Sif is the one we need to worry about.”
That night, the Elite Academy is abuzz with excitement. The entire Academy turns out in the atrium well before the twenty minutes is up, and a loud rumble of happy conversation echoes off the concrete pillars. Out of habit, I fall into line beside Cam and Pim, facing the high, blank wall that forms the screen for our nightly Midgate lectures.
Pim dances on her toes, craning her neck to see above the hordes standing in front of us. “When Lover Jenks said we were going to have assignments this Triumph season, I was excited. But this . . . this is a whole other level. I have been hanging out to see it for myself for years.”
“I’ve only ever seen it on a vision screen,” Cam says, staring over everyone’s heads. His cheeks are dimpled with an eager smile. “It doesn’t feel real.”
“We don’t know what’s going to happen yet.” I fight back my own excitement. “I’m not going to celebrate until I know what they say. We may still end up watching it on a vision screen.”
Cam’s shoulders slump. “Way to dent my buzz, Flick.”
“I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than shattered.” I wink at him.
Cam puts his hands on his hips like a petulant child. “Well I’d rather enjoy the moments of pleasant self-delusion. So stop ruining it.”
Pim pats him condescendingly on the arm. “Cam, Cam, Cam. I’ve got more chance of fraternizing with Carell Hummer than you have of getting out of the Coding center.”
“All the more reason to let me enjoy my mental fantasies,” Cam tilts his chin toward the ceiling, eyes closed and a look of desperate bliss on his face. “Besides, Flick lives in a dark room too, from what I’ve heard.”
“With every blessing comes responsibility,” I say automatically, echoing the words of the Watcher manual I’ve been forced to read.
“And my responsibility is to code until my fingers bleed.” Cam waggles his fingers at me.
“You poor thing,” Pim pouts. “Would you like me to bring you back a souvenir from the party you won’t see?”
“Now you’re just asking for it,” Cam turns to her but Pim squeals and dances away.
Above our heads, the projection screen begins to glow. Titles appear across the proudly waving Collective flag. Everyone stops.
Supreme Lover Midgate appears on the screen.
“Welcome to Triumph of Love season, my children! It is my pleasure to announce the date for our official opening of Triumph festivities. To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Death of Hate, we are producing a celebration on a scale you have never seen before. Prepare to be dazzled. Prepare to live the experience. Prepare to be forever changed as Love Defeats Hate, fifty years on!
“Our Triumph Parade will be bigger than ever before, showcasing the best and brightest of our former years, as well as an exciting new feature on our youth.
“Innovation, inspiration, and imagination will be on show for one and all during this time. Join us in the Triumph Festival Parklands in Love City, where you can enjoy everything your heart desires. Attendance is not an option, but compulsory. You have three months to prepare for the greatest display of Love we have ever seen.
“May we all love all, be all together and find ourselves in this great universe.
“You are all my Lovelies, I mean it.”
Supreme Lover Midgate’s image fades from the screen, and the lights come back up again.
“A feature on our youth,” Pim says. “What does she mean by that?”
“It means we’re all going to Triumph this year!” Cam crows.
“I don’t know,” I reply. “It could mean anything.”
“I think it means we’re all going to Triumph this year,” Cam repeats more forcefully.
“I bet she’s talking about the Pleasure Tribe performing, or something,” Pim tells him. “There’s a reason they keep Coders shut away from the world’s eyes.” Cam arcs up at Pim’s words, but she pokes her tongue out at him, smiling.
Cam shrugs. “Still think I’ll get to see Triumph this year.”
“You keep thinking that, Mr. Coder-in-the-dark.” Pim turns away with a flick of her hair. “The rest of us will just have to wait until the Lovers tell us what we’re going to be doing.”
“You guys enjoy yourselves,” I can’t help saying. “I’ve got a few missions to complete before I can sleep tonight.”
They are silent as I leave. Berating myself as I walk to my self-imposed exile, I resist the urge to turn back. I’m pretty sure they’d just be looking at me as if I’ve suddenly grown fangs and claws. It’s best not to know for sure.
So I slink away, feeling like I’ve just broken something. Off-key music follows me like a mocking band. No matter where I go, I can’t win.