The tech was giving her an intense look and she dropped to her ass as she caught on to his not-so-subtle hint. He didn’t want to turn her power off, just dim it so that the politicians and public would be satisfied.
She cut off every urge to fly and sat on the ground.
He nodded with finality. “There, we have your level. Please rise, Ms. Geering. I will now hand you off for your fitting.”
She got to her feet and walked away from the tech podium and over to the door. She waited until the tech was walking with her before asking, “How long do I have to keep the monitors on?”
“The fitters will remove them.”
“Ah. Good, they sort of itch.” She clenched her hands to stop herself from picking at them.
He chuckled, “It is a common reaction after the testing. The electrical impulses generated by the monitors sensitize the skin. It will wear off or you will get used to it when you are in the restrictor suit.”
“What a pleasant idea. That is a really unfortunate description of the suits.”
He merely led her to a door that said RESTRICTION and bowed. “It has been a pleasure, Ms. Geering. Keep well and enjoy your family visits. I know I do.”
When the door opened, three women greeted her with polite expressions and she waved farewell to the tech as the door closed behind her.
“So, you are here to get me dressed?”
One of the women jerked in surprise as she spoke. Col chuckled. “I apologize for startling you.”
The shocked dresser and the others giggled as they laid out chunks of silvery-lavender fabric out on prep tables before they led her to a dais.
The woman who seemed to be in charge smiled, “Few talents have the energy to speak when they arrive here. It surprised us. Do you want us to remove your monitors or your clothing first?”
Colah sighed, this was the part she had been dreading. “The monitors removed and then the clothing. I know that this is being recorded for the archives and the less time I have to spend naked, the better.”
The dressers moved swiftly, removing the monitors and setting them into precise positions on a computer station. When the monitors were gone, the woman who had spoken apologized. “I am sorry for this.”
Her scrubs came off with a few short tugs and she was standing naked and barefoot on a podium while three women moved around her with measuring devices and electro-magnetic monitors.
“The restriction suit is designed to be fashionable as well as un-removable. It is made of a living material which bonds to skin and tissue.”
Colah blinked, “But then how do I…you know.” She made a gesture below waist level.
The dressers smiled and one said, “The suit removes waste via the skin and consumes it to live. On the other side, if you starve the suit, the host dies. It will actually become your skin over time.”
Colah scowled, “How is that better than the old suits?”
The pitying expression in their faces was hard to take. “It saves maintenance. The old suits needed to be replaced often and were horribly expensive. These cultured suits are less expensive and take to the programming readily.”
For the first time since she had been arrested, Col was afraid. This was real, this was permanent and this was going to mark her for the rest of her life. She swallowed the tears and breathed deeply. “Let’s get started.”
With concentration and dedication, she kept herself perfectly still as they fitted the fabric to her wounded arm. While two of them worked on her, the third used a depilatory beam to remove the body hair in the next work area. They left the hair on her head alone but slowly worked their way across her body with the silvery fabric and she was surprised to see that the design she was staring at in the reflecting panels was actually flattering.
She held still as they wrapped her arms and legs before attaching clips to the wrists, ankles and the high neckline.
“This may prickle a little, Ms. Geering. Just hold still while the suit calibrates and takes its shape.”
Col didn’t have a chance to ask about what they meant by shape when her skin was suddenly alive with writhing fabric and a peculiar sensation. Two of the dressers held her hands as she tried to keep still and the third moved her hands swiftly over the computer keyboard.
Col inhaled and exhaled noisily and kept her eyes closed while the suit moved and twisted on her skin. Her instincts screamed at her to pull the suit away, but she didn’t. She kept her teeth clenched and her mind on her niece while the shifting mass ran over her and between her thighs.
It was a torture that she had never imagined in her life and when it was over, she opened one eye at a time before looking into the mirror across the room.
“Oh, my.”
The fabric had twisted into arcs and twists connected by diamonds wrapping her skin. Her belly was exposed but it didn’t feel cool. The suit was generating an energy that kept her body heat right where it belonged.
One of the dressers asked, “Can I take a picture?”
Col frowned, “I thought this whole thing was on camera.”
“It is, but this is for my private records. For some reason, this substance takes different patterns and shapes on everyone’s bodies. This is one of the most elaborate I have ever seen.”
“Certainly. Take your pictures. This is what I look like now.”
With her hands on her hips, her bare feet no longer feeling the cool of the floor, she posed for the photo.
As they took turns posing with her, she laughed, “Who would have thought that being thrown off a building in the morning would end up like this in the afternoon?”
Chapter Three
The dome was visible from within the transport. It was a huge arc across the sky that covered the ancient city of Dathim and Colah had only seen it on filmstrips before.
“How do I get in? They never show that on the filmstrips.” She asked it of the men next to her, but her guard contingent was not forthcoming.
Sighing, she returned to staring out the window and watching the dome get closer. Night was falling and she had the prosaic thought that it was going to be the first night away from her home in her life.
Eventually, she saw the tiny building under heavy guard at the base of the dome. It was their intended destination and her guard went on alert as they approached.
“Remain in the vehicle.”
It wasn’t a question and the captain of her guard exited to speak to the guards on duty around the small building.
Colah hummed idly and braided her hair into a column, fastening it with a few loose strands of hair before flipping it over her shoulder again.
When the captain finished speaking to the guard, he returned to the vehicle. “They are ready for her. Come along, Ms. Geering.”
She shrugged and moved past the guards who she knew were trying not to stare at her rather alluringly dressed body. Col had to admit it, she looked hot in this outfit. Too bad that none of the men in the transport appealed to her.
Col didn’t need to be told, the guards at the small building stood in two columns and she walked between them to her destiny.
The guards didn’t matter. All that mattered was what was within that small building.
Colah walked toward the single official in the small building. He got to his feet and inclined his head. “Colah Geering. You are hereby sentenced to life in the dome. Please press your hand to this plate and may the rest of your life be long and free from strife.”
She did as he asked and pressed her hand to the plate. It scanned her palm and a door to her left slid open.
“Please proceed. They are expecting you.”
The doorway crackled as she stepped through it and on the other side the dome, energy embraced her. It closed up behind her and her feet were now walking through the oldest city on her world.
Buildings were in amazingly good repair for stone and plexi that was thousands of years old.
“Welcome to the dome. I am Wahli.”
“Colah. Call me Col. Thank you for the welcome.” Col walked toward the woman and extended her hand.
Wahli paused for a moment before extending her own hand. “It has been a while since someone was willing to shake my hand, Col.”
“It has been since this morning for me. I am holding on to anything familiar until it is taken from me.”
Wahli blinked and grinned. “Good. Far too many newcomers come here and slump into depression. It is nice to see a perky face for a change. Come on, let’s get you settled.”
The streets were lit with glowing orbs that bobbed gently and showed Col a small café and a minute tavern.
“How many people are here?”
“Five hundred or so. We don’t breed, so it is a fairly stable number.” Wahli shrugged.
“How long does it take to get used to the suit?”
Wahli laughed at that. “About a week. It is self cleaning so you don’t have to worry about bathing, though your hair will still get dirty.”
Wahli’s suit was black and had a very sharp and tribal pattern that scored across her golden skin.
“How long have you been here?”
Wahli made an almost imperceptible pause in her gait. “Five years. It isn’t too bad and it takes away the necessity of keeping your talent from those around you, so while boring, it isn’t the end of the world.”
“That is quite the pep talk.”
Wahli shrugged. “Sorry. I try and look on the bright side, but it has been a very long day. I will tell you this, a council rules us and tomorrow morning, you will be introduced to them. What is your talent?”
“Flying.”
Wahli winced. “Ouch, you will probably be on egg collecting or checking the orbs. It’s not a bad job but not exactly stimulating. What were you before?”
“Before today, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“I was owner and chef at one of the hottest restaurants on Resicor, recently retired.”
“You can cook?” There was a certain amount of hope in her voice.
Col got offended. “Yes, I can.”
Wahli rubbed her hands together. “That is the best news I have heard this year. This is your building.”
The structure that they stood in front of had a flat front and wide entrance way.
“What is this place?”
“An old dormitory. Someone refurbished it decades or more ago and we keep it up for new arrivals. It does not allow for much security, but it is snug and we are able to find you without trying too hard.”
Colah shrugged and yawned. “Sounds fine. Just point me to my room.”
Wahli shrugged. “Pick your room. You are the only new arrival in the last four months. Once you are integrated into the dome society, you will be placed in a more affluent area. Right now, you are an unknown quantity with no value to the council and so, you will remain here until you prove yourself.”
“Whatever. Where do I find food?” She yawned again.
“There are terminals located throughout all the buildings. All access to rationed food is equal. It is only the fresh food that is reserved for the council and those who can trade exceptional skills for perks.”
Colah had the unkind thought that it was a good thing that sex was out of the question, or this would be a society of super powered whores of both genders.
The building was empty and Col couldn’t resist a quick exploration of the main floor.
Wahli waved at her. “I will come and collect you in the morning.”
“See you. This place is great!” Col walked through the hall and into the atrium and with a sense of relief, she lifted herself in the air and up to the fourth floor.
Her power was weak and her rise was slow, but it was definitely there and under her control. She wished she had gotten the name of the tech that had let her keep a little bit of herself, but if she ran into Hahvi, she would thank her for having such a wonderful brother.
Hovering, she moved down the halls, opening and closing each door until she found a bedroom that she liked. She sealed the door and floated to the bed, lying down and tucking the blankets around her.
Wrapped in warmth and surrounded by the restraint suit in a dome designed to keep in freaks like her, Col did what she had rejected all day, she bawled like an infant.
* * * *
Wahli stood before the council. “She is definitely a flier, she has some of her talent left behind by the tech that processed her and a very good heart.”
Cerran leaned forward and asked, “Anything else?”
Wahli kept her head down. The council hated eye contact with her. “She is a chef, apparently one of the best on Resicor. That might be useful for the council.”
Urik waved that off. “If she is a competent flier, she will be far more useful in that capacity.”
Voopil cocked her head. “If she can reach some of the heights, we may get some of the probes placed at long last.”
Hahvi smiled. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we just got one step closer to becoming our own nation.”
Wahli kept her head down and waited for a dismissal. Declaring the physical talents as an independent nation was a fine idea, but getting the rest of Resicor to agree to it was a dream that she didn’t keep much stock in.
Having a working flier was a useful thing. Wahli only hoped that Col was able to keep up her chipper attitude. More talents were lost to depression than anything else.
Chapter Four
Dear Sector Guard,
My name is Makki and I am writing this letter as a class project. My teacher said that I could write to anyone, anywhere, so I chose you.
This is the second letter I have written, because my teacher destroyed the first. The sister of the superintendent of schools is sending this one, because she lost someone too.
My world is Resicor and in the past, physical talents engaged in all sorts of bad deeds and had to be wiped out or contained. That isn’t still the case and this brings me to the point of my letter.
My Auntie Col has been taken and is now being kept in the dome, all because she can fly. Mom says we can visit soon, but my Auntie is stuck in there now and no one is talking about her anymore. They are trying to make us forget that she exists, but she does. She is in my heart and I miss her.
I have heard that the Sector Guard and the Citadel take talents and train them to help other people. My Auntie Col is a good person and she would help others if she could. Can you come and get her?