Firedown Sun

Arcade Fire woke me up the next morning. I sat up, my head still a bit fuzzy. Ever since that roll down the hill, things just seemed so... unclear. I couldn't focus on the lyrics spewed from the wall, couldn't figure out what day it was or why it was so COLD.

Then I thought of the malfunction. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach. "Five more minutes," I mumbled against the pillow.

"Kitten Zigbol," my wall urged sweetly, politely. "Kitten, you need to get up, dear. Right now."

What did robots know? They didn't have to sleep, so they didn't know what five extra minutes of rest could do!

"Just leave me alone, okay?" I asked. "You can shut off the Waking Song now."

I could still hear the solar energy coursing through my wall, and the song continued to burst out from the invisible speakers even after a few seconds ticked by. I glanced up from my faceplant in my mattress and stared at the wall incredulously. "Hey, I told you-"

Suddenly, the mattress flipped, and I found myself flying through the air and landing harshly on my left hip. A jolt of pain ran up my spine as my leg began to throb. What in the world?

Wincing, I stood. Just putting pressure on my leg killed. I leaned onto my good leg and glared at the wall. "What was THAT for?!"

"Time to get up and ready for school, sweetheart. I was ordered to get you up immediately.

"By who?" Who else but me could tell my wall what to do?

There was laughter, sounding half-human instead of robotic. "Your little friend at school told you, didn't he? Everything changes because of the weather control malfunction.

It was so cruel, I wanted to pound my fist against the stupid wall or maybe even threaten to light it on fire. But the wall controlled everything in this room, and if I so much as lifted a finger to do it harm, it could have objects that could be even more lethal than a flipping mattress flying at me in a heartbeat.

"I hate technology!" I screamed.

No, I had not forgotten Lune's "robotic phasing" theory. Especially now, since I had proof. My own wall turning against me, not even letting me have five minutes of extra sleep. I'd been literally thrown out of bed, and now I was being made fun of by a ROBOT.

My mood only got worse when I heard my mother calling up to remind me of the snow.

Great. That was all I needed. Stupid wet, slushy snow melting in my socks and soaking through all my layers and making me FREEZE. Yes, that was JUST how I wanted to start the day off.

"Thanks for the memo, Mom," I answered her back in a loud, groggy and very annoyed voice.

I can hear her laughter. "Don't forget to dress warmly!"

Oh, like I would dress in shorts and a tank top. I rolled my eyes and headed over to my wardrobe, snapping three times. The lights above my head flickered on. I pulled on a plain black t-shirt, then slipped my purple gloves I'd cut out of old socks over my hands and pulled them up to the crease of my elbow. They would definitely help me stay warm. Pulling on a random pair of black jeans and then digging through my closet to find my rabbit fur boots- Ankun had found them for me and said that rabbits were another one of those olden creatures that hadn't survived the almost complete world destruction.

My mother appraised my outfit as I came down the staircase. She seemed to be okay with it, because she spoke to me another subject entirely.

"The kitchen wall stopped working," she sighed, twisting locks of her shoulder-length hair around and around her fingers, like this were something that actually BORED her. "Part of the malfunction, I presume."

"Too bad MY wall didn't stop working," I mumbled.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing." I sighed, too, and asked, "So, I guess we just have to use the food storage? Good thing we have it, too."

She gave me a strange look and she didn't say anything at first. Then she blinked. "Would you like to explain the state our basement door is in?" she asked slowly. "I already went down and got some food for the next few days, in case it stays shut down for a while."

My eyes dropped and remained on the floor, and I winced. Should've known this one was coming. "Um, yes, about that... Well, Hexa..." I swallowed. "Hexa's very... uh, strong."

"She broke the door?"

"It wouldn't open!" I said quickly, before she could start cursing Hexa's existence. "It wasn't her fault, I was just desperate, and she's my best friend. Please don't get her in trouble," I pleaded.

My mother nodded. "I'll get someone to fix it. No problem. Just next time let me know if you're going to start breaking down the house, alright, Kitten?" She pointed at the kitchen counter. "There's breakfast. Enjoy. I'm going to get your father out of bed. His Waking Song didn't go off."

Oh, sure. Everyone else was dealing with a non-working wall, while I had a cruel, Kitten-hating one now. What sort of sick joke WAS this?

I ate breakfast- an orange and a handful of walnuts from the storage box on the counter- then put on an actual winter coat, the one with "Kitten" stitched onto the left sleeve. It didn't have speakers in the hood, but it had heat wires, anyway, so I could live without the music-playing part.

And somehow, I forced myself out into the snow. I bit down on my already chattering teeth and walked to the spot where I would wait for the bus.

There was white everywhere. It sparkled in synthetic sunlight, creating almost a blue aura when you looked at it just right. The trees, the houses, the road, all of the city was covered in the shining powder, and the sky was full of it. Flakes of all different shapes and sizes flew past my head and below my feet with the chilly wind, like the ground was eating them up for breakfast.

Ew. It was cold and I didn't like it.

*

Hexa tackled me with a hug when I walked in the door. Blinking in surprise, I tried to push her off. "Hexa, what are you doing? You're suffocating me."

"My house tried to kill me this morning!" she screamed in terror, and there was no joking in her voice. "My wall hates me, and every time I move an inch in that place, some sort of robot freaks out at me and tries to attack me! I even threatened to tear them all to pieces with one of my blades! Nothing WORKS!"

I tried to hide the fact that this made me feel slightly better. I had been afraid I was the only one getting torture from my wall. But knowing Hexa was terrefied of her own house wasn't really comforting. Hexa wasn't scared of anything.

"Sorry," I murmured. "Don't know what to do about that. Same problem at the Zigbol residence, you know."

"Mine, too," Resh said, swallowing hard. She didn't sound too hot, either. There were dark bags under her eyes, and I knew she'd stayed up last night after the game.

"What was it this time?" I asked softly.

Resh sighed. "This game on the Telo." She rubbed at her sleepy eyes, then tried to shake the exhaustion from herself. "I don't know if I can concentrate on schoolwork today or not. Being yelled at by my wall for not getting up right away wasn't exactly starting with a BANG. And then the snow..."

Hexa and I nodded in total understanding. "Snow is stupid," I muttered.

"Why does it even EXIST?" Hexa complained. "I hope it melts tomorrow."

"It's not real snow," a voice informed us. We turned, and there Lune Drumer was, stupid grin and all. His hazel eyes glanced back and forth between the three of us, then settled on me. "It's just something the city came up with, a way to make it LOOK like snow. Just like the sunlight, moonlight-"

"You know what?" the half-asleep Resh interrupted. "I don't even know what you're saying, but whatever it is, my level of caring is..." She paused to calculate. "Well, it's in the negatives. Probably a smashing amount of negative eleven or something. So... go bother someone else, alright?"

Lune cocked his head like a baby Macaruna begging for Peri seeds. "Negative eleven?" he repeated.

She nodded and Hexa supported her by ordering him, "Get lost, before I do something I regret."

"Ooh, violence," Lune breathed. "Threaten me, go ahead. Do something you'll regret. Not that you'll be able to catch me."

Hexa flexed her fingers, and I saw her reaching into her pants pocket for her harmonica-knife.

"Stop," I nearly shouted, raising both my hands and bringing them between the two. "You're crazy, both of you. Hexa, calm down. He hasn't done anything incredibly stupid yet. And Lune..." I blinked at him, my eyes narrowing. "Why are you here again?"

"Apparently not for a good reason."

"Apparently not."

"So, I'll just go, then?"

"Yes. I don't think Hexa was kidding-"

"I wasn't," she hissed, eyes locked on Lune. Maybe I wasn't crazy for taking such a quick dislike to Lune Drumer. He might just put off this I'm-annoying aura, thus the school labeled him Outcast.

A Teacher abruptly came up to the group of us, feet booming as he came right to my side. My eyes slid up to meet his harsh, black gaze. It was Weever, the adult most people tended to avoid on any occasion they came across his deadly path.

He asked, "Something going on here, kids?"

We shook our heads. "No, Weever," Resh replied. "Nothing's going on."

"Then I suggest," he told us, "that you head off in your own separate direction BEFORE something happens. Don't you think so... Kitten Zigbol?" He leaned down and breathed hot air into my face, and I nodded quickly, my head trying to figure out how he knew my name... and why he was secluding me in the first place.

*

In Sorin's class, he actually had us do work in the books, taking focus off of Lune and concentrating on memorizing the first five rules in Monten. He wrote them on the blackboard and had us recite them over and over, and by the twenty-ninth time, I was pretty sure I had them down. I copied them down in my notes, wondering why they taught us to read and write if they shunned books from society.

I was cut off from wondering about ANYTHING because I was called on to recite. I stood as fast as I could and spewed out the rules, trying my best not to stumble over them and not to let myself blush when I did. Sorin seemed pleased, though, that a rebel like me could do this, so he moved on to torturing someone else.

And I began drawing in my notes a fullgrown Macaruna, running alongside a girl with a ponytail falling over her right shoulder and a faithful, cheerful Dragonblade beneath her across a snowless city that was shining underneath a sun. A REAL sun.

And, just in case you were wondering, these are the five first rules of Monten:

1. Always tell the truth.

2. Last names should not and will not be used unless one is introducing themselves or simply stating what their or fellow being's last name is, but never in addressing that said person openly, and certainly NOT publicly.

3. Children are to be moved every three years to the designated roads for their age-group.
4. Always be on time.

5. Sacrifice what is most valuable to you to the Fire Pit every end of the month.

With the last one written down in front of me, my desire for a flame suddenly became insistent.

And I was lucky. Because we started caring for especially fiery creatures in Life Studies. We didn't have fire-breathing dragons, which was a disappointment, but we did have Snorkels, which were known to cough up a few flames now and then. They resembled a reptile and a spider at the same time, usually blood-red or golden with little spiky hairs all over its scaled body, slithering out with a forked tongue and sometimes smoking a bit.

The one Pharis and I worked with was a plump little thing, its beady, black eyes staring at us unblinkingly as we coaxed it into drinking milk from its little bottle. Pharis tried to steal some of the whitish liquid, then spat it out quickly when he realized it was sour.

"They drink it like that?" he nearly yelled.

Deactaviss danced to our spot and laughed, "Look like the Creature Keeper's son isn't so professional at this after all! Although, it seems your partner is fairing quite well with keeping track of the little monsters you've got there. Nice work, Kitten."

I smiled at the black-haired Teacher and nodded in appreciation. I began stroking the Snorkel, which gave me a humming pur in response.

"How can you stand holding that thing?" my partner hissed when our Teacher was gone. "It's so... dangerous. It'll breathe a flame at you and then you'll be nothing but ash!"

What, was he scared of a little singing? "Future Fire Pit Manager, remember?" I heard him chuckle nervously as I cradled the Snorkel in my arms and rocked it back and forth, feeding it from its bottle at the same time.

He just sighed. "Still, it's weird. Hasn't it burnt you yet?"

"Tons. I'm used to it. I LOVE fire."

"Guess so. Would you keep a Snorkel, if Deactaviss let you?"

I appraised him. "You mean if the LEADERS let me?" I snorted. "They'd never let me take it out of this building. They might kill it if it gets out." I hugged it closer to me, hoping nothing like that ever happened, even if these things were dangerous. It just wasn't fair to kill something when it hadn't MEANT to do harm. It was just... a natural-born weapon.

"Yes, I suppose they would." Pharis rubbed the little creature's head and muttered, "But they are sort of cute, aren't they, even if they're lethal?"

"Speaking of cute, how are our Macarunas?" I asked. I hadn't thought to check on them. What if they needed fed? What if they were ripping each other to shreds? What if-

"They're fine," he reassured me. "We switch from creature to creature, is all. We'll work with plants, too, eventually. Animals first, always. But there's just so many, we can't focus on just one at a time. We have to keep switching."

The rest of the class passed by uneventful. Nobody caught on fire, the Snorkels all behaved- mostly, anyway- and then we were told to collect one thing in nature that we found interesting and bring it in for study tomorrow.

Great. Homework.

*

At lunch, Hexa, Resh and I were sitting peacefully- me with my cherry jelly sandwich, Resh with her spicy beef and bean taco, Hexa with her "healthy" lasagna and wheat crackers and all of us sipping at hot chocolate floats- when Lune appeared at our table.

"Hope you don't mind, but there's no other table open..."

I glanced around the Eating Room. Sure enough, every place in the room was filled or had a bag placed on top of it, probably to save a seat for someone so someone- like Lune was now- wouldn't try and sit there.

The only spot that was empty was the chair to my left. I shrugged and let him sit down, knowing I didn't really have another choice. I couldn't very well let him sit on the floor. But, actually, that didn't sound so bad...

"Thanks, Kitten," he said. "I didn't know where else to go. You're so kind."

Hexa growled, "Try anything, Drumer, and I'll-"

"Yes, yes, I know. You'll tear me apart and let Kitten burn the pieces, in which you'll pick up the ash and put it into a vial that you'll wear around your neck forever to warn anyone else who dares touch your 'precious firegirl'." He shot an amused glance over at me, like he was asking approval.

I burst out laughing, making Hexa stare at me like I'd gone insane. Resh didn't particulary care, or maybe she was just tired to pretend she did, or she could just possibly not be following the conversation at all and didn't want to try and figure it out. She did that sometimes. Got lost, thought about asking what was happening, then just decided it wasn't worth it and let the whole thing drop without question.

"I wasn't even trying to be funny," Lune blinks, glancing over at Hexa, who glared back as if it was his fault I'd lost my mind, and then getting nothing but a sigh and nod from Resh.

I just kept laughing, pressing my hands to my face to try and get the delighted sound to cease, but... well, imagining Hexa actually doing something so gruesome was somehow hilarious to me. And I couldn't... stop... giggling.

Eventually, they ignored me and began discussing a grueling matter: the weather control malfunction. Nobody seemed to be appreciating it very much, and there was rumor in Monten that more rebels were appearing every day. At this, I gained control of myself and bit into my sandwich, intently listening in.

Then I blurted, mouth still full, "Well, what's the problem with more rebels? It's not like we're uprising!"

Lune frowned. "But that could happen if this continues. And the leaders know that. The Big Experiment, all this robotic phasing, isn't going to work. They need to just admit they messed up, fix whatever happened to the weather control, and then let us go back to normal, when our houses actually worked and our walls didn't call us names."

His wall called him names?

Good.

I looked back and forth between my friends. Hexa seemed to be warming up a bit to Lune now, and that was uncomfortable. Resh was still staring off into nothing, her eyelids fluttering half closed, like she were already dozing off, even though she hadn't even finished her lunch. That was unusual. She was like a vacuum the way she could inhale food and still remain perfectly thin, not as skinny as Havva Twigley, but certainly enough to be no more than a hundred and twenty pounds at the most.

Hexa and Lune began comparing ideas, figuring out what the best thing to do was.

Ha. My answer? Nothing. Just sit back and let the leaders wonder, let them struggle to find the answer.

They deserved it.