Ignorance Is Bliss

Leann

“There’s your check, I hope you enjoyed your meal!” I say cheerfully to the family of three. I would have waited to say the second part, but the woman is already pulling out cash to pay for their meal.

I smile as they leave. It’s now time for my break, and I can’t wait. I exit the building, basking in the warm August sun. We live in Portstown, an aptly named town in Luosk where the summers are warm and the winters are cool. The only problems with this are that the beaches are never warm enough to swim on and that we don’t get any snow. No one really minds, though, because we’ve got nearly eternal good weather.

I dig in my pocket for my ID card when I reach the back of the restaurant, and I flash it in front of the hidden reader.

Before my eyes, the teleporter door fades into view, gleaming in the sunlight. This isn’t anything surprising. I’ve been doing this for four years now, and it stops being surprising two or three times after you memorize the location of the reader.

The teleporter is open, and I step inside, waiting for the weight sensors to realize I’m inside and take me away. If anyone were to sneak inside somehow, the teleporter wouldn’t leave unless they all had ID cards or were all cleared by someone with an ID card. It’s only security, and everyone gets used to flashing their ID cards in a group. But I am alone today, and the teleporter takes me away within a matter of moments.

It’s always a funny sensation to teleport. It’s the one thing you never get used to. You feel a vibrating sensation, and then you feel a quick jolt, and your body feels like rubber. Touching yourself, even holding your hands together, feels very strange, so you avoid it as much as you can.

The doors open, and I see sunlight gleaming off of a building’s roof. I exit, and I stand at the entrance to the camp. More specifically, it’s the official camp of the Sesoq Rebellion. Our mission? To get rid of the hypocrites running the Sesoq Government.

There’s a slight breeze. That we even have that is only a result of the temperature regulator installed. Since we are standing in a desert, we need to accommodate to our members from colder climates.

“Leann!” calls a voice, and I’m suddenly faced with the primary leader of the Rebellion. He is twenty-nine, handsome, and he is my best friend. He’s given up nearly everything for the Rebellion, and somehow maintains happiness. His name is Percival Sanchez.

“Hi, Perce,” I say, grinning. Perce is my nickname for him. If anyone else calls him Perce, he gets mad. I suppose nicknames are some of the benefits of being friends since childhood.

He manages a smile back, but doesn’t seem to have his heart in it. He looks stressed, as usual, but that is probably because he has so much to do. I’m supposed to be a leader as well, but people don’t trust me enough. Therefore, anything important goes to Percival.

“Leann, can you please ask Jackie if she’s seen anything suspicious? I’ve got a suspicion that there may be some Government activity soon,” says Percival. Jackie is a relative of Percival’s. She lives in a forest away from the camp, but her location doesn’t take away from her strong status in the Rebellion.

“What makes you think that there’s Government activity?” I ask.

“They’re never quiet for too long. Nothing’s happened recently, so we need to be on our toes. Now you should go ask Jackie before it gets dark,” says Percival. It’s always mandatory to see Jackie before dark, or the person visiting gets brutally injured. We’ve had enough accidents to know not to bother her when it gets late.

I nod and say a quick “See you” to Percival before I head back to the teleporter.

****

The house is small, but still looming in the growing shadows. I’m thankful that I managed to get to the house before it got too dark, but it’s still very shadowy in the forest. Darkness makes me nervous.

“Jackie?” I call, since there isn’t a doorbell and Jackie prefers knowing who’s outside.

I can barely hear the feet shuffle inside, and then the front door is thrust open and I am pulled inside.

The door closes, and Jackie turns to look at me. “It’s rather late. I heard you. You’re lucky you didn’t get burned.”

“Sorry,” I say.

“So, did you need anything?” asks Jackie.

“Tea, maybe?” I ask, knowing Jackie will have it and knowing she’s always glad to serve it.

“Of course,” she says, and a smile flickers on her lips.

She leaves, and I sit on a beanbag. Jackie doesn’t like couches or chairs very much, so her house is always littered with beanbags. Much in the house reflects Jackie’s preference, from the nighttime firelight to the earthy ground, but she’s not completely natural. Some modern devices do exist in Jackie’s home, like an oven and a microwave, but Jackie is a very natural person.

“Hi, Miss Leann!” says the voice of a cheery six-year-old. His name is Aymin, and he’s Jackie’s son. His father disappeared a few years ago, and it left Jackie devastated. Luckily for Aymin, he was too little to remember him.

“Hi, Aymin!” I say. I love him to death. Maybe it’s because I feel sorry for him, but I think it’s because he’s cute, and because he’s one of the two kids with parents in the Rebellion.

“Are you going to drink Mommy’s tea?” he asks.

“Of course,” I say.

“Good, ‘cause Mommy wouldn’t like it if you didn’t,” Aymin says. He smiles, then runs to his room. He used to ask visitors to play with him, but now he knows most of us are too busy.

Jackie returns with two cups of tea. Her crimson hair shone the same color as the fire, and the curls were accented with streaks of fire. She smiled, and her beauty was almost dazzling.

“Here you are, Leann,” she says, handing me a teacup. She glances at the fire and rubs her hands together. A flame grows between them, and she tosses it at the fire.

“That’s better,” she murmurs, and she smiles. “And how are you?”

I return the smile and say, “I’m fine. Has Aymin shown any signs of a power yet?”

Jackie shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. He’s able to turn invisible, but it’s all a matter of when…” She sighs. “Herra is convinced he’ll be able to control it once he reaches his teens, but it’s very annoying to be unable to find him half the time.”

I giggle, and Jackie glares at me. “It’s not funny. Imagine having a kid and trying to find him for something, and then you can’t see where he is! And then, he could be anywhere by that point, because he tends to teleport somewhere nearby whenever he turns invisible. It’s very, very irritating.”

“Oh, he’s got two powers, like you?” I ask.

“Yes, he does,” says Jackie flatly, and I know it’s the end of that conversation. Back to business.

I clear my throat. “So, the reason I’m over here is because Percival wanted to know if you’ve seen anything Government-related around here,” I say.

“I haven’t, but would you like me to check the future?” Jackie asks, her eyes focused and alert at the mention of the Government. Jackie has the magical abilities to create fire from nothing and to see the future, to an extent.

“I think that’s primarily what Percival wanted,” I say.

Jackie closes her eyes, and I wait. Finally, after a few minutes, Jackie says, "Something’s coming. Actually, a lot is coming.”

“What, then?” I ask.

“Be on the lookout for spies,” she says. Then, before I can press for more, she says, “Isn’t it late? I’m sure you don’t want to spend the night here.”

I groan. Jackie doesn’t like people staying overnight, either, so I have to leave or she might give me a minor burn.

“See you, Jackie,” I say, not wanting to feel the fire anytime tonight.

“Goodbye. Perhaps you could come in the daytime next? Aymin wants to play with someone new,” says Jackie.

I turn away from her enchanting beauty and dash out the door.

****

When I reach the restaurant, I decide to step inside to do my shift as a maître d’. The restaurant is Rebellion-owned, and we earn our income by giving every member a shift. Everyone except Percival, that is. He’s far too busy to do anything restaurant related.

As I take my place, two guests come in. Both are strikingly attractive and quite tall. One is male, tan-skinned with dark brown hair, and the other is female, with pale white skin and black hair. The two look out of place in the restaurant. It seems to be in the way they walk, with long, stiff strides, but it may be their expressionless faces.

“How may I help you?” I ask with a smile, even though they make me nervous.

With faltering words, the male says, “We’d like a table.” Something about their accent seems out of place, too, but I can’t place it.

“And is their anything specific you’ve heard about that you like?” I ask. It’s mandatory that I ask, because it’s part of the code for new members to get into the Rebellion. If they answer correctly, we know they’re interested.

“The Veggie Burgers seem particularly disgusting,” says the male again, answering the coded message with the coded answer.

“Ah, so you aren’t interested in a table, I take it,” I say, grinning in spite of myself.

“No,” says the female. She looks confused now, but her face is still so blank that it’s frightening.

I turn around. “Chase!” I call to a waiter.

Chase turns around after he serves the table.

“Can you take my shift?” I ask.

Chase rolls his eyes and nods.

“Thanks!” I say, then turn back to the strange couple. “Follow me,” I say.

I take them outside, and I show them the teleporter. When we are inside, I ask, “I’m Leann Raines. I need your names for clearance, so will you tell me?”

The woman nods, and she says, “My name is Lyria Emagen, and my friend is Spenser Owlex.”

I smile. “Welcome to the Rebellion,” I say, and I take them into the teleporter.