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Hours passed. My weary body slept and roused. The cell door opened, and I watched the blocky shape of someone else shoved inside. I could not see who it was, or any detail of her face, but I could sense that she knew me. She quickly sat at my side, closer than I would have liked. Her hand found mine, and she grasped it and held it. I felt the vibration of her Cuff, charging her for the kindness.
Was it a friend? Her fingers were thin and cold. I stared at her through The Blocks, but I could not determine much. She did not say a word.
Not long after, the lights dimmed briefly and my vision cleared. The Blocks had disappeared, and I realized it was Sera Croate holding my hand.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What was she doing here?
Sera began shaking her head. “Speth,” she said, releasing my fingers. Her Cuff didn’t buzz.
An older woman on the other side of me asked, “A FiDo? Of all places,” she whispered. “After all this time.”
Other faces in the cell lit up. A low chatter began.
The Blocks, the shocks—none of it worked without the WiFi. There hadn’t been a FiDo since Butchers & Rog had the network consolidated into a central core.
“I saw it,” Sera whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t know they were going to...” She choked on the words. “Those men...”
My hand balled into a fist. I wanted to slam her into the bars, but I did not move. She wiped her eyes.
“I tried to say something, but suddenly my Cuff went off, and my eyes...” She took a deep gulp of air. “I tried to tell them what really happened, but they just arrested me. I should have said nothing. I should have gone silent. Right? Is that what you all figured out?”
I didn’t know what she was talking about. I didn’t have any idea. I couldn’t focus on her words with all the contempt in my heart. She’d brought those men down on Sam.
“Yorda Silent Girl,” the older woman across the cell announced.
I stopped to breathe. Everyone knew my face. They all looked to me.
“Did you know going silent would turn everything upside down? Do you know what they are going to do tomorrow?”
“They’re gonna meet at Falxo Park,” Sera went on. “All of them.”
My eyes blazed at Sera. What the hell are you talking about?! my mind screamed at her. Did she not comprehend what she had done? Sam would be alive if not for her. I could never forgive her for just standing by.
“The Silents,” she said, undaunted by my glare. “Mandett is getting them to come. It’s his Last Day. I thought it was obnoxious—pointless—but now...I don’t know...”
Her brow was furrowed, and she watched me intently, like she was looking for me to say something.
“This is so awful,” she said pitifully. “Can’t you help them? Can’t you explain?”
Did she expect me to talk? She didn’t understand the depth of my refusal, or my fury at her. I wouldn’t speak unless I was certain everything had changed—and certainly not for her. It was too late for her to come around. Too late to save Sam.
“I’m so sorry.” She sniffled and took my hand again. I stared, focusing on her bony white knuckles as she half crushed my hand in her frantic clutch. She raised our hands together and dropped them again, easing her grip, then let go with a whispered, “Thank you.”
She took my silence for forgiveness, ignoring the blaze in my cheeks and the hate in my eyes. She had no idea how lucky she was that I did not hurt her. Being silent for so long had taught me all forms of restraint.
Footsteps sounded behind me. The lights dimmed again. The Blocks returned; everything became blurry once more. Sera stiffened and then slumped with disappointment. A woman across from us spoke a single word—“They”—and then squealed against the pain shocking her eyes for it. The FiDo had come to an end.
Speth.
The word flickered to life in my vision, hovering over the pixelated blur of my cell. I closed my eyes and opened them, but the word remained.
A figure outside the bars growled at me.
“Speth Jime. Let’s go.”
The word faded. I heard the door open.
“Speth,” Sera whispered. Her Cuff buzzed in alarm. “I’m sorry.”
Someone grabbed me roughly by the arm and shoved me down the hall and into the atrium. He stopped me short at the benches. A figure was seated there—a dark, calm, motionless figure dressed in forest green. A lean woman, from the shape of her.
She had to be a Collection Agent. Who else would come for me? I squinted, as if that would help me see through The Blocks, then balled my fists in frustration. What would happen if I throttled a Collection Agent?
She quietly typed away on what must have been a Pad.
Another message, Relax, appeared before my eyes. Did she type this? Did she have access to my feed? Had I already been sold off? The officer still gripped my arm, and I tried to wrest it free.
The seated woman spoke quickly and clearly to the officer. “Under statute 792-C, I hereby claim custody of Speth Jime and, having taken said custody, demand you immediately cease and desist use of The Blocks, and any other means of non-mandatory restriction or restraint.”
The officer released my arm at once, intimidated by the razor sharpness of her Legalese. The sound of it made me shudder, too. A moment later, The Blocks vanished.
Standing before me in a deep green suit jacket and skirt was a dark-skinned, serious-looking woman. She had a slim but impressive row of Legal medals pinned over her blazer pocket.
“Follow me, please,” she said without emotion. I did as she said, and a series of dots lit the path in my eyes. I didn’t resist—in fact, all thought of fighting vanished.
It was no Collection Agent who had come to retrieve me. It was Kel.