5
Faya’s symbol is the Burning Man, but our national flag is white with a decagon in the middle. A decagon is a closed shape of ten sides and ten angles, representing Faya’s geographical design. We have ten major cities located between the angles that encompass our land. The ten cities are called Noo, Aft, Eve, Sun, Twi, Dus, Mor, Nig, Mid, Daw, and of course Sol, the capital, in the middle.
The buses slow down. We get out and enter a huge circular park-like space in front of Grand School. Thousands of students throng everywhere. Two huge screens made of flexible fiber, roll down from two zeppelins.
“What’s going on?” I ask Ariadna.
“We have to listen to some boring speech from Prophet Hannibal Xitler,” a boy tells us.
Prophet Hannibal Xitler is the sole ruler of Faya. The Prophet holds the holy word of The Burning Man, and only he has the power to commune with our God. The Prophet shall never be seen with the human eye for reasons beyond us. That’s why he only speaks to us through speakers, or messages on our iAms.
The floating screens show another picture of The Burning Man effigy. We have to bow our heads again. Woo used to laugh at this part. No wonder he was a Monster. I don’t bow my head, and smile at the hordes of sheep with lowered heads. Sue me, I am only minutes away from becoming a Monster.
I hear someone clap in the crowd. Slowly, someone else joins in, and then someone else, hailing the Prophet. Dictatorship is like a disease. It doesn’t hit you in the face. It spreads slowly, until it grows bigger than you think it ever could. Woo’s words.
Prophet Xitler resonates in the speakers. He has a raw and deep voice, and talks annoyingly slow. He tell us the same boring story of how The Burning Man saved us from extinction after the crimes and horrors The McDonalds committed. The McDonalds, Woo claimed they were called Americans, were stupid enough to destroy their lands with their foolish decisions.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ariadna pulls me down to bow with her. I wish I could tell her what’s wrong with her, or the place we live in, but I don’t really know. Neither did Woo. We just always felt something was terribly wrong with it.
“The Ranking system has made us a great nation that the world looks up to,” Xitler rants. “The growth in economy, quality of living, and our place in the world is at its zenith. When we first invented the iAm, no one understood its purpose. The world wondered and questioned our sanity. They questioned how we could possibly benefit from tracking every teenager’s behavior, everyday life, health, food, thoughts, and mood swings.” Xitler stresses on “mood swings.” His tone is on the verge of mockery. “It seemed like an irrational idea; a waste of energy and money in a nation that rose up from the ashes after the Great Disease. But here we were. Stronger than ever, with a ranking system that the rest of world is copying from us. But like always, they are too late,” Xitler laughs. “I am proud to announce that the percentage of Monsters—”
The crowd starts protesting in a low and scary tone. “The Monsters Must Die!” Ariadna tilts her head and raises and eyebrow, wondering why I am not cursing the Monsters. I pretend I don’t see her.
“The percentage of Monsters this year is estimated to be only ten percent of our teens. The first year we started the Ranking system, the Monsters were about sixty-five percent.” Prophet Xitler continues. “We plan to have no Monsters in Faya in the coming years. Then we shall live in a world of peace, devoid of rebels and terrorists.”
The crowd hails the Burning Man.
“And who knows,” Xitler says. “Many years from now, Faya could be a nation of only Eights and Nines.”
This drives everyone crazy. Ariadna is jumping. Timmy too. Everyone around me does. I wonder what Woo would have done. I can’t do anything but listen to the rest of the speech, and walk among the sheep as we enter Grand School. I walk among the enthusiastic students in the hallways, looking at the steel doors lined next to each other. Each of us will be called to enter one of these doors soon. I’ve been told the door leads to an elevator-like room, where a machine informs us of our rank. All ranked students get to access a further door onward. Monsters get to slip through a hole in the ground. Woo used to call it the Rabbit Hole.
It’s the last point of no return. My heart beats so fast, it almost chokes me. I could still change my mind and confess forging the results. But the more I look around me, the more I know I can’t tolerate this world. Either I find Woo, or I die like him, which ironically will lead to wherever he is now, too.
Suddenly, everything goes quiet in the hallway, as if the world behind me has disappeared. Everyone stops talking for no reason. I stop walking and look at all the students with appalled eyes. They’re looking at me.
It take me a moment to realize it’s not me who caught her attention. It’s something behind me. A living and breathing thing. I turn around. It’s Leo again.
Since Woo’s death, I’ve never felt as curious about someone as I am about Leo. His lips seem relaxed now, and slightly parted. The tension in his face is gone. His hands are cuffed behind his back, but his legs are now free. Everyone is looking at him. It seems like no one in the hallway can breathe properly. Leo is scary, and attractive. A wild and unreal combination. One of the tough boys stops him, trying to pick a fight, like usual. Leo ignores him, and keeps on walking toward me. If I had doubts he was looking at me the first time, I was wrong.
Leo stops before me, and all I see is his face. Everything in the world around him is just gone. I feel as if there is a magnet pulling me from my belly toward him. The features in his face disappear and all I see are his intense eyes, as if we’re both connected through some kind of an invisible tube filled with golden light, the color of the tint in his eyes. I feel dizzy. My eyes shift from his eyes to his lips, and back again. It’s too tense in here. Too hot. I feel like I need to break free from a spell.
“Are you Decca?” Leo inquires. There isn’t one inch of hesitation in his voice. It’s almost inhuman in the way he demands an answer. I wonder how he’d ever been a musician. He sounds like he wants to punch me, like today is the last day in the world, and we have to do something about it.
“How”— I clear my throat and crane my neck back — “do you know my name?” My voice is so weak, it might be only in my head. I have never met him before. I haven’t even been a fan of his song. Who is he?
“Don’t do this.” He says without flinching. For all his beauty, he is so rigid; as if he’s in pain, but trying not to show it.
“Do what?” I say back to him. I hate beautiful boys. They are mostly dumb. But my body betrays me, and I find myself wanting to get closer to him.
“Don’t enter the games,” he lets the words seep painfully from between his pressed teeth. “It’s a dumb thing to do.” His eyes move sideways, as if he doesn’t want anyone to hear him.
My mouth is hanging open, but I am speechless. How does he know about me? I feel as if I am in a dream, and someone is calling to me from the waking world. I start surfacing to the real world, reminding myself that other teens exist here with us. We’re not alone, and I am not supposed to feel attracted to him. Hell, I’m not supposed to feel attracted to anything. I need to focus. I am going to fight for my life in a short while.
It all ends abruptly when the soldiers arrive. It seems like he’d escaped them to come and talk to me. Me? Why?
“Stay away from me.” Leo grits his teeth unexpectedly. “You hear me?”
Okay, I got it. Leo belongs in an asylum, just like my mother. I am shocked and confused. The blood returns to my once-numb hands. It’s like waking up from a beautiful dream with a twist. Or even worse, a bad ending.
One of the soldiers storms in from behind Leo, and presses a button on a remote control in his hand. Leo snaps, and something happens to his mouth. His lips are sealed again. His cheeks tense, he get angrier. I can’t do anything about it. All I notice is that he was lying when he said he wanted me to stay away from him. His pleading eyes still don’t want me to enter the games.
The soldiers drag him back, as his hair falls over his eyes again. I think he lets it on purpose. He does not want to communicate with anyone, or be seen.
“Of all the girls. Leo is talking to you?” Faustina says behind me.
“Believe me,” I say. “It wasn’t flattering.”
And before I could replay what just happened, my name gets called to enter the room. I turn around and stare at the door for a moment. But then I walk to it impulsively. I know if I think too much, I might snap and retreat. Let’s do this. I pulled the door open to enter. But before I go in, I turn to see if Leo is still nearby. He isn’t, they had taken him. Just like Woo, I was probably never going to see him again.
Inside the room, there is a digital screen in front of me.
“Pick up your iAm and plug it in the wall, please,” a pre-recorded woman’s voice requests.
I do as she says, and plug my iAm with Eva’s data into the slot in the wall. It only takes seconds before the pre-recorded voice talks back to me.
“Congratulations,” it says. “You’re a Monster.”
Some sarcastic machine.
“You’ll attend the Monster Show, and die in the name of the Burning Man,” the machine says. “We appreciate your cooperation, and wish you a good afterlife. Have a nice day…to die.”
“No shit,” I mumble, as the floor underneath me parts open. I find myself sliding down into the Playa. It’s a moment when Monsters usually scream. I don’t.