Adon unfolded the paper stuffed in his desk, revealing a bright red apple in stark detail. He stared at the size, the waxy texture of the skin, and frowned. His apples were small, purple, and shiny, and perhaps not apples at all.

“What’s wrong?” One of his students tried to peek at the page.

Adon hugged it to his chest, “I think that’s all for today.”

They groaned for him to stay, but Adon packed his bag, put his desk back in its place, and dashed to the access balcony before Jane Blau could stop him. 

It was empty.

It took four days before he saw Lu again, pushing easily into the access tunnel door.

Adon followed, bolting up the clanging stairs and out onto the balcony platform, gaping at the view of Caldera stacked over them, the piles of garbage collected along the edges of the access pit, and the ragged railing that separated the balcony from the rest of the air access way to the ground. He spun his momentum away from the edge, though he wanted to run to it, to stare at the small square of blue sky above them. Instead, he hurried over to Lu leaning against the block wall, holding out the drawing, “is this real?” He was practically buzzing, wheezing to catch his breath, shaking the paper, “is it? Is it really real? How do you know? Did you draw this? Can you take a picture?”

Lu blinked, rolling his eyes as the questions continued, then gave up waiting for a break in Adon’s curiosity and rifled through his bag, A”I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” He held up the round red apple, as big as his palm, with a smug smile, “try it.” He laughed at the awe on Adon’s face, gesturing a second time, “go on, try it.”

Adon hesitated, plucking the apple from Lu’s hand and turning it slowly, breathlessly wondering aloud “so what… are mine?”

“So what do you think?” Lu crossed his arms over his chest, still watching Adon.

“I think… I think you’re very good at drawing,” Adon whispered reverently.

Lu’s arms fell, ears flushing bright.

Adon continued to admire the fruit in his hand, comparing it to the drawing, “why was your portrait so….” He didn’t have the technical words to describe the absence he’d felt.

Lu fell back against the wall with a shrug, “that’s just all I remembered. The theme was maternal.”

Adon’s mouth fell open with an irritated scowl that Aphy had drawn him at all, but knowing it was for a theme of motherly love… that was too much. He paid her fees and made her food and nagged her to find a job, but…. Adon crouched, falling onto his butt beside Lu in defeat. He glanced nervously at the door every few seconds. He sniffed the apple and took a small bite, looked at the drawing, frowned at the thought of Aphy painting him as a motherly figure, then back to the door until Lu’s laugh interrupted him. 

“Don’t worry, they won’t yell at you,” he chuckled.

“No,” Adon mumbled, “they won’t yell at you.”

Lu snorted.

They sat quietly, side by side against the wall, enjoying the silence, Adon dreaming of apples and gathering the energy to go pick up Mess, Lu contemplating talking about the Pit. Adon seemed like someone who would tell him it was horrible, that he was right to be disgusted. Adon seemed like someone he would believe when he said it. But he wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk about it, forming the words meant breaking the chains he’d wrapped himself in, splitting his mind, and he feared his own judgments of Pa, who was becoming more reckless and ruthless by the day. 

Lu inhaled experimentally, testing to see if the words would even come. They didn’t. 

The door slammed open, a confused Aphrodite stomping through with her phone held in front of her, directing her toward Adon’s district ID keychain. She glared down at Lu, kicking Adon’s foot, “get up, you’re late.”

Adon snorted awake, sheepishly wiping the line of drool from his chin as he took the mask Aphy held out to him, following her to the door. 

Lu watched them leave. Next time. He would tell him next time. 

☆

“Be careful around him,” Aphro stomped beside her brother, “he’s a psycho. One time he threw paint on Cali’s work, just to win—”

“Cali threw the paint,” Adon rolled his eyes with a laugh, “you wouldn’t stop complaining about how she didn’t listen to you and ruined her best work. You whined for weeks.”

“Oh yeah,” Aphro frowned, annoyed at her friend all over again, “well, I wouldn’t put it past him to burn something he thinks would beat him… then sue the artist for fumes pollution.”

Adon shook his head sadly, “it really is the weirdest thing to compete in art.”

Aphy stuck out her tongue, “people compete in everything. You compete to tutor the dumb kids, and I—”

“Hey be nice, those dumb kids paid for your uniform. And your lunch. And your paint brushes,” he tsked, pulling one out of her wild purple hair.

They stalked through the long maze of corridors, Aphy sighing each time a shape flickered past the long bank of windows, “I wish we had grav-suits.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Adon grumbled, pulling up her most recent list of illegal downloads he’d had to pay last month with a tight smile as he flipped the phone to her, “I had to take on two extra students Aph. I don’t even have time to study for my own exam!”

“You study while you teach,” she shrugged, the wistfulness gone from her voice, “besides, I know we’ll get radiation rashes in a knock-off, don’t worry.” She rolled her eyes at his glare, returning to the tunnels as another shape flashed past them, “wouldn’t it be faster though? Or at least a rail-pass? Calliope said they’re free,” she kicked a rock down the hall, following Adon to avoid the worst of the rubble as flood-damaged ceilings collapsed and remained where they fell until they became a structural issue and the Mids sent someone down to clean it up and restabilize the city. 

“The rail is free,” Adon nodded, “you can ride whenever you want.”

“So why don’t we!” She rounded on him, rubbing her aching head. 

“Because,” Adon breathed calmly, massaging her shoulders and pushing her gently ahead of him, “they don’t go through Navy. They only go out.”

“Oh,” she trudged forward, “what about the gravity tunnels then?”

“You need good boots. If the magnets don’t stick, you’ll end up in suspension and Sec-Offs will have to save you if someone doesn’t smash into you and obliterate you both. You’ll get charged for attempted murder, your trial will be in the public domain jury, and I’ll make you pay the fee yourself.” He stomped ahead of her, annoyed just thinking of the mess it would cause, “besides, the ground tunnels only go one way too. We’ll get out of here someday, but until—”

“Okay, okay,” Aphrodite scowled, arms held in surrender. She glanced down at her flickering district alert pendant hanging around her neck, unable to distinguish the flashing color, “is your badge going off?”

Adon pulled his bag around to check the small translucent globe. He shook his head, “no, just a glitch probably.” The halls closest to the gravity tunnels did that—caused glitches and panics. He checked his academy-issued bracelet, but it only unlocked the doors and granted him greenhouse access. He hadn’t been able to pay for it to act as his district alert badge, though it was perfectly capable. So he relied on a relic of a father none of them had known while Aphy wore the pendant that was old and ugly, but worked. 

Aphro dropped the pendant, “if I die from the rain, you better get me the highest brick available. I want sunshine, real sunshine.”

Adon rolled his eyes, “if you die from the rain, I’ll bury you myself.”

“Ew, in the ground?” Aphy whined at their only option, “I don’t want to be composted! Make me one of the purple bricks! No, pink. Actually, no, purple. Or green if it’s easier.”

Adon rolled his eyes, “how about you don’t die.”

“How do you think they get the colors?”

“They add minerals to the ashes—”

“EW!” Aphy slugged him hard in the shoulder, “the glass is bodies?”

Adon glowered, rubbing his shoulder, “what did you think it was?”

“I thought the… people were in the bricks!”

“No,” Adon laughed darkly, signing the check-out form at the elementary ward of Navy while the admin struggled to scan his personal ID tag to confirm his identity, then his district alert to confirm they were okay to leave, then waited uncertainly as Adon pulled up his sleeve to reveal the academy bracelet key that opened the gate with a sigh. Most people had one wearable for everything. Most people didn’t know they had three-in-one devices. Even other Grounders got annoyed with Adon trying to juggle the technology of their grandparents, confused and overwhelmed by the steps as they scanned wristbands and rings for credits, laughing at him trying to count out trade costs on his fingers. 

The door buzzed open, a light flashing, and a nine-year-old Mess launched at his brother, jumping at Adon. Adon stumbled, hefting him to his back and handing the bear-shaped bag to Aphro as they began their hike to the public housing unit in Indigo. 

On their way, Adon was stopped once by a Mids photographer fish slumming along the rails, once by an AIE affiliate reps of the Actor’s Guild Agency, and once by a group of people all wearing pink and offering him an internship between drunken giggles. By the time they reached their tiny unit, Mess was asleep on his back, Adon was stressed about his growing list of tasks, and Aphro was determined to sell her winning portrait of her beautiful brother before it went to his head. 

Adon made them a quick dinner from cans and boxes, noodles, vegetables, and sauces rehydrated into sustenance, then tossed in several herb leaves he’d picked from the school greenhouse, pulled directly from his pocket. As soon as her plate was empty, Aphro stood, took Adon’s district alert, leaving her glitching necklace as his only warning of any impending catastrophe, then skipped out to meet friends, slamming the door before Adon could lecture or nag. 

He sighed, then smiled at Mess dutifully staring at blank homework sheets. Adon explained the math basics, signed Messenger’s school forms, packed his lunch with several tiny purple apples, and laid out damp clothes for the morning while Mess ranted and raved about the kids in his class. When he fell asleep mid-sentence, Adon smiled, tucked him into the bed, left a note by a glass of water, and set out for his shift at Indigo Cafe, ironically located in Violet District.

The halls were crowded, but he made it just in time to avoid a penalty fee as he clocked in. Adon spent the next four hours going insane as he monitored the small-cakes belt for misprints, staring mindlessly at the petit fours while his chest raged at all the study sheets he could be preparing for his students, reviews for his CAPT exam that would place his academic potential into one of eight levels, determining scholarship stipends and the rest of his future. And Aphy’s, and Mess’. But they still needed food, and one of his student’s parents had gotten him the job, Heather signing off on his work hours as a guardian. 

He didn’t need her signature anymore. He could forge it himself, but his birthday had passed with his CAPT registration and new Caldera adult ID code. At the Identification and Registration office, they’d ogled at his Indigo label before noting his surname as Caldera, a ward of the state, and informed him of the deposit amount for a new District ID band that included an updated district alert and nav system. He hadn’t had the required down payment and told Heather to take it back so he didn’t get stuck with another high-interest contract like the district alert pendant Aphy still had. He’d gone through it once and it was more than enough. He had no idea how he was going to get Aphy and Mess through the system. But if he scored well on his CAPT, if he got placed high enough, he could get them into the Mids. Into a real house, with heat and more than one bed. Maybe they’d have a pet cat to keep out the bugs, and a dust door like they showed in AI Entertainment shows, families pausing at the first door to shake off all the dust and pollutants from outside before moving into their nice clean homes. 

Adon sighed, the next six hours of his night shift spent serving customers in the cafe front, a recent and unwanted promotion. He was saving to get Aphro a new alert, one that didn’t glitch. Then Mess would need one too. There was food, and clothes. Aphy would complain about new boots since she brought it up hypothetically already. Mess would wear his until his toes stuck out the tops and he collapsed from gangrene. Adon had always wanted to get Aphro the dance or piano lessons she’d begged for.

If he placed in the top twenty percent of his CAPT round, he could train in one of the five Security Service Disciplines: Healer, Enforcer, Educator, Prosecutor, or Merchant. If he got in the top ten percent, he could apprentice a tradesman in his choice of field, including Agriculture. The growers weren’t famous like the Chrome businesses or the Arcade Girls or the AIE shows, but they got to live at the treetop, with a steady and necessary job that would allow him a few minutes to breathe in the sky. 

Adon inhaled deeply. He let his anxiety settle, then turned patiently to the line of third-shift customers with a stiff smile and half-closed eyes. 

When he got to school in the morning, he still had his hair net on. He found a hand-drawn picture of another strange red fruit in his locker and smiled at Lu’s messy “apple,” scrawled over the page with an arrow pointed to the red apple sitting on the small shelf. Adon wondered briefly how Lu had guessed his combination, but was distracted by a sticky note with another arrow pointing at the small basket of purple fruits he’d left behind that read “not apple.”

Enthralled a second time, Adon tucked his hair net into the locker and pulled the picture and fruit out of the shadows, comparing them again, still impressed by Lu’s simple but effective replication, confused why he didn’t simply take a photo. He wandered the halls searching for Lu and thinking of all the ways he might start grafting seedlings together in the school’s greenhouse, though his options were limited and he had to get a secondary breeding permission certificate. 

When he couldn’t find Lu, Adon figured it was his district rest day and snuck onto the secret airway balcony and sat in the single line of sunlight, instantly falling asleep. 

☆