The Search For WondLa (3 page)

Finally, Eva had asked what “CP01” was. Here, the Omnipod had had no answer. It had replied that the letters and numbers could be some sort of code, perhaps even for another computer or device.

Still puzzled, Eva had looked at that cryptic message day after day, trying to determine its true meaning. In time, she’d forgotten about it. A year later, she’d been removing her old clothing, which no longer fit, from her dresser drawers.

Once again, she’d spied the secret words.

“Show me the Sanctuary’s floor plan,” she had instructed the Omnipod when she was nine years old. Once again, a dazzling hologram had floated up, expounding in great detail about the different chambers of the girl’s home. Immediately, Eva had realized that there were holes in this hypnotic display—pieces of the Sanctuary that were missing. The Omnipod hadn’t been showing her everything.

Eva had asked to see the Sanctuary’s
entire
floor plan.

The Omnipod had asked for a username and a password.

Eva had replied, “CP01. Omniscient.” …

She now approached the halfway point of the long hallway. The humidity had increased as she’d trekked farther down the winding corridor. Moisture clung to the walls, and small fungi dotted the ceiling in places.

“Almost there,” whispered Eva, her voice echoing through the darkness. When Eva had first wandered into this new, uncharted area, she’d been thrilled and terrified all at once. Now she moved without hesitation. Her destination was just ahead… .

She remembered a time when she had realized there was more to the world than just her life in the Sanctuary. When she’d been six, she had asked Muthr about it as she’d sat down to breakfast. “Why aren’t there trees in our house?”

“Because trees cannot grow here,” Muthr had replied, dropping a pill into a cup of water. It had fizzed as it had plunged to bottom of the cup, disintegrating.

“But we have plants in our greenhouse. And my programs show trees. Big, enormous oak trees, growing in large forests,” Eva had said as she’d slurped up her drink. Muthr had told her the taste was like freshly picked oranges.

The robot had put an arm around her, “Well, Eva, there are trees. But they cannot grow here, where we live. They grow … above us.”

“Can we go and see them?” Eva had been excited at the idea of exploring a big forest towering right above them. “We could play hide-and-seek and have a picnic.”

“All in due time,” Muthr had replied, setting a bowl of oatmeal-flavored mush in front of her.
All in due time… .

Eva finally arrived at the end of the hall. Another door, identical to the one she had opened in the supply room, stood shut in front of her, its manual control panel darkened from water damage. She knelt down, adjusting the light on the Omnipod from a solid beam to a soft, luminous glow.

The area surrounding the door was lined with a collection of odd and unusual objects that had been placed carefully in little organized rows leading to the door. The items ranged from clothing—shoes and crisply folded tunics—to toys and games, such as an animated rattle and a giggling ball. All had one thing in common: They were items that belonged to Eva that she was not yet ready to discard. She sat down facing a group of dingy stuffed animals at the head of this arrangement and opened her satchel.

“Hi, everybody!” Eva addressed the toys and objects huddled at the shadowy door. “Sorry it’s been a while. I’ve been so busy with my exercises and stuff. How are you?”

The toys did not reply.

“Good. Good,” Eva replied. “Oh, me? I’m all right … I suppose.”

She showed her bandaged thumb to the toys. “I got cut—see? Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for asking. It happened while I was prepping dinner. No, no, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She rubbed her bandaged thumb against her forefinger. “But I totally flunked my fire-starting test today. I got bit by a snake and died. Can you believe it?”

The silent collection stared back at her.

Eva winced. “I know, I know. I think Muthr wanted me to fail and put it there on purpose—so I just dropped dead. I thought she was going to blow a gasket!” Eva chuckled. The hollow laugh echoed on the damp walls surrounding her.

She sighed, slumping into the shadow outside of the Omnipod’s glow. Her eyes downcast, Eva spoke in a melancholy tone, “What am I going to do, guys? It’s not that I want to fail these exercises. I want to pass them. I mean, the sooner I pass them, the sooner I can get out of here… . I’m sorry. You’re right—the sooner
we
can get out of here.” Eva stared at the glowing faces of her old toys, illuminated by the Omnipod. “I just … I just want to have friends. Not that you guys aren’t great friends and all. But, you know.” Eva picked at a loose string of climatefiber hanging from her sock. “I want to meet people … like me.”

A muffled banging sound reverberated down the hall from the direction of the Sanctuary. She stopped talking and listened … but now all was silent.

She addressed the toys again. “What’s that? No. Now I have to take a quiz tomorrow to see if I still remember my basic skills. My basic skills! It’s like Muthr doesn’t want me to leave at all. It’s not fair.” She pulled the electra-paper out of her satchel. Its pale glowing lines flickered in the darkness as Eva rolled up the sheet. She slid it carefully inside a small sneakboot standing loyally with its mate next to the stuffed animals. “Guess what? Here’s what the quiz is on. I wanted to make sure you all had the list too.”

Eva’s eyes rested on a small, thin item hiding in the organized hoard. She plucked it up carefully and examined it closer. It was a blackened, crumbling, flat piece of material—different from anything else she’d ever held before.

When she’d first discovered this item more than a year before, Eva had tried to identify it with her Omnipod, but the device had concluded that, “There is insufficient data. Not enough information to make an identification.” Eva had determined that it was likely a small piece of tile or even paneling, possibly a sign of sorts, as it was square shaped. On it was an image (a broken one, since it no longer moved) of a little girl holding hands with a robot and an adult.

The only item in Eva’s secret collection not given to her by Muthr.

The only item in her secret collection not identifiable by her Omnipod.

An item another human had left for her, here, by this sealed door.

Proof.

She couldn’t make out who exactly the adult in the image was. The scorched damage obscured the face in soot. However, she could see two letters on this worn piece of paneling:
L
and
a
. There was a second, smaller piece to this puzzle, which she had discovered as well. Eva had glued this missing fragment to the top of the panel. It, too, had fancy letters printed on it: “Wond.”

“WondLa,” Eva had dubbed it. She studied the picture in her hands. The girl was smiling. The robot was smiling. Eva was certain the adult was likely smiling too as they all walked together in unison through a field of flowers. Moving as one. As friends. Exploring the forests above.

But Eva’s robot would not allow her to explore. She wouldn’t even let her leave the Sanctuary.

A Sanctuary that had been connected to another Sanctuary.

A Sanctuary that had been connected to
many
other Sanctuaries.

Eva had seen the omniscient floor plan.

However, like the door before her that led to the adjoining Sanctuary, they were now all closed off to her.

“I don’t know why Muthr doesn’t want me to have other friends,” Eva said as she returned the WondLa back to its place. “But she’ll never find out about the WondLa, or us … until it’s too late.”

Lifting the Omnipod up from the floor, Eva scanned the collection of unmoving toys. The soft light illuminated their blank faces. She paused on one, a grungy Beeboo doll.

“I brought you a medi-sticker too,” Eva said as she ripped open the little packet with her teeth. Eva placed the sticker on the doll’s soiled paw. “I don’t want you to get an infection when we escape from here.”

As she stood to leave, a tremendous shock wave rattled the entire Sanctuary, raining dust and debris from the corridor ceiling down onto Eva Nine.

CHAPTER 4: BOOM

The omnipod
light danced wildly about the secret passageway as Eva rushed back toward the Sanctuary. She activated the door controls as another loud reverberation rocked the walls, causing her to stumble through the open doorway and back into the supply room. The shelves inside vibrated with each rumble, and several containers of disinfectant fell to the floor. Holding on to the shelves, Eva snaked her way to the front of the room just as the door hissed open. Standing in the entrance was Muthr.

“There you are!” exclaimed Muthr. She thrust Eva’s jackvest and a large food container into the girl’s hands. “I have been looking everywhere for you. Do you have your Omnipod?”

“Yes,” replied Eva, holding up her right hand, the device hanging from her wrist.

“May I have it, please?” Muthr asked.

Eva handed the Omnipod to her. Immediately its tiny lights began flickering in rhythm to a tiny light on Muthr’s torso. “What is that?” Eva shouted over another tremendous bang. The sound was coming from above them. All the lights in the Sanctuary flickered.

“Is this another exercise? Or a drill? Because—” A shrieking siren cut her off, a noise Eva Nine had never heard before. With large eyes—frightened eyes—she watched the robot. Muthr was silent and stoic, but lights blinked in rapid succession all over her head.

“Muthr, what’s happening? What is the Sanctuary telling you?” Eva asked. She huddled close to the robot as another shock wave boomed overhead.

Muthr blinked out of her trance and addressed Eva. “An intruder has breached the Sanctuary’s doors and is now descending to the main entrance. Come now. We have only minutes to get you to safety.” With that, the robot spun around and wheeled out into the main hub. Eva hopped along behind her, slipping her jackvest on over her beige tunic. The Sanctuary shook again.

“Kitchen doors, open, please,” Muthr commanded, and she barreled through the adjacent door.

“Wait—the kitchen?” Eva stopped in the doorway, confused. “Why are we going into the kitchen? Shouldn’t we head to the control room?”

“Not now, Eva, dear.” Muthr grabbed Eva by the wrist and yanked her inside. The robot slid open a small hidden panel near the doorway and began typing a sequence of numbers into a security keypad. The kitchen doors slid shut and locked. Over the sound of the alarm, Eva could hear the other doors in the Sanctuary lock as well. Next, the ambient sounds of the central living hub, along with every appliance within the Sanctuary, powered on with the volume at maximum level.

“This noisy diversion will not buy us much time, so we must be quick,” Muthr said. She looked directly at Eva and placed two hands on her shoulders. “Now, listen very carefully to me, Eva. You must
leave
the Sanctuary and head up to the surface for safety. This intruder is clearly not benevolent, and I will not have any harm befall you.”

Eva gasped. “Leave? Now? I mean, I want to, but—”

Muthr’s voice remained calm while explosions tore apart the Sanctuary outside the kitchen door. “Do not worry, my child,” she said. “I will be all right. I know we were not finished with your exercises. However, you—”

“Room two fire sensor has detected smoke,” announced the Sanctuary over the intercom speaker. “Please seal off the room and begin extinguishing sequence.”

Muthr wheeled Eva over to the cooking exhaust vent, and began removing the corner screws from the intake grill at once with all four of her arms. “Eva, inside here is a ladder that will take you directly to the surface.”

Eva blinked, dumbfounded.
There was an escape hatch right here in the kitchen all this time?
The floor plan on the Omnipod had shown only one way out, and that was through the robot’s quarters.

A loud sonic vibration, just outside in the central hub, rattled the walls of the Sanctuary. A mighty explosion erupted, as if a door were being blown to pieces.

Eva backed away from the kitchen doorway a bit, and bumped into Muthr, who had now removed the grate. She set the grate down and continued with her instructions. “I have been closely monitoring the nearby terrain. If the reports are correct, we are concealed in a densely wooded area near a river. Once you reach the ground level outside, you need to run from here as fast as you can and find a place to hide among the trees.” Muthr supported Eva as she climbed up onto the stove top and stepped inside the exhaust shaft. It smelled smoky, like burnt toast. “Stay put until daylight,” Muthr said, “and above all, do not let this intruder spot you.”

Kneeling down in the exhaust shaft, Eva looked at Muthr. Her heart was pounding in tempo with her rapid breathing.

This is not an exercise.

“Rooms three and five are also detecting smoke,” the Sanctuary’s intercom spoke in its eerie, calm tone. Another explosion interrupted its report, “—begin extinguishing sequence.”

Room 5. That’s my room.

My life is in there. My clothes … my bed … my entire holo-show collection.

Room 5 was where Eva had dreamed up countless plans of how she was going to find others, just like her, and bring them back safely to her home. Friends and family would live with her and Muthr in the Sanctuary, just like the picture depicted on the WondLa.

Another explosion rocked the kitchen.

“Eva, I need you focused and alert,” Muthr said, handing her the Omnipod. “Remember what we have studied and all that you have learned.” The robot lifted up the grate and began screwing the bolts back in. “Trust technology, and
do not
return unless you hear word from me. Understand?”

Eva nodded as it dawned on her what was happening. Her eyes started to sting. This scenario wasn’t on any list. Sure, she had wanted to explore the surface, but not this way.

Not alone.

“Room six fire sensor has detected smoke,” reported the Sanctuary. It might as well have been greeting Eva, its tone of voice was so calm. “Please seal off the room and begin extinguishing sequence.” Static fuzzed over part of the announcement. Despite the growing heat from the fire outside, Eva’s entire body trembled as if she were chilled.

“Muthr! You … you have to come with me!” yelled Eva. The smell of smoke now drifted into the kitchen. “Please!” She panicked. “There’s room for you in here! I can help you up! Don’t leave me!”

Muthr put her hand on the grill. “Eva, listen. Listen very carefully to me.” Eva curled her fingertips around Muthr’s, gripping so tightly that the blood rushed out of them. The robot continued, “I have shut the exhaust fan off, but it is on a timer. It will restart soon, so you have to hurry. When you get to the top of the vent, there will be a wheel. Turn it counterclockwise to open the hatch and climb out.”

Smoke wormed its way into the kitchen from under the door, carrying a nauseating stench of smoldering metal and melted plastic. Outside, Eva could hear a loud hum followed by a piercing sonic vibration. The kitchen door buckled from the explosion, but did not open. Muthr spoke in that slightly distorted melodious voice. “Eva, I love you very much, and I hope that I will see you again,” she said, “but you must go, NOW!”

Muthr moved away from the grate. Eva pounded on it, screaming, “No! No! No!”

A metal covering slid down, sealing the exhaust vent shut. Eva could hear a tremendous explosion and the kitchen door blow open. Frightened, she sat frozen at the bottom of the vent for the longest minute of her life. She listened to the rummaging and pilfering going on beyond the grate covering in what had once been her kitchen—what had once been her home.

Eva thought of Muthr. She thought of her old friends hiding in the secret corridor.

She started climbing her way up toward a distant flickering light at the top of the shaft. It seemed like miles away, and the light above turned into a tiny star shape every time tears streamed out of her eyes.

Panting, Eva was approaching the nonmoving exhaust fan. As she neared the large unit, she could hear it chirp in a steady electronic beat. From below, Eva studied the fan’s wide greasy blades, encrusted with gray clumps of filth, as the chirping sped up in tempo.

The fan is on a timer
—Eva recalled Muthr’s instructions—
you have to hurry
. She grabbed hold of the fan’s central motor and pulled herself up past the flattened blades. The chirping sped up yet again. Sitting atop the large cylindrical motor, Eva caught her breath. The chirping became a rapid beep. Eva stood on top of the unit and could see a wheel-shaped handle above her lit by a single utility light. Grasping the wheel, she tried to turn it.

It did not budge.

“Turn, turn, turn,” pleaded Eva.

The chirping stopped and the fan’s motor started up again. The vibration jolted Eva so much that she almost lost her footing. The toe of her sneakboot thrummed as the blades whacked at it.

Another sonic shock wave echoed its way up the shaft, and Eva shrieked. The wave was followed by a rending sound at the bottom of the shaft, and metal clanging. The grill covering had been removed, and smoke now began to wind its way up the exhaust vent.

Sensing the additional heat, the fan spun even faster. The entire unit vibrated, groaning under the additional weight of Eva on top of it. Through the fumes burning her vision, Eva risked looking down. Below, she could make out the glow of fire coming in from the kitchen grill, growing like an angry orange-red snake up toward her.

Vertigo tried to topple Eva. She refocused on the wheel, pulling on it with every bit of strength that she possessed until it finally let out a low squeak and moved ever so slightly. The smoke was now so dense that Eva could no longer see her own hands in front of her. She coughed as noxious vapors filled her lungs. Mucus ran from her nose into her gritted teeth.

“Come on!” she yelled as she blindly pried the wheel loose from its frozen position. At last the wheel spun freely just as the old, rusted bolts holding the fan unit below her gave out, one at a time. With each turn the top vent of the shaft opened a little more, sucking up the fire and its smoky breath. The fan came loose from the shaft walls, plummeting down to the flames below. Hanging from the wheel, Eva pulled herself up and grasped the edge of the vent opening. She squeezed her lithe body through the vent, and then tumbled down to the ground below.

A ground Eva Nine had never set a foot upon in all twelve years of her life.