Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
We marry in a small ceremony officiated by… I dunno. Whatever you call the person in charge of the scholar’s camp.
We have a boy. Or a girl. Then another, and another. And pretty soon, we’ve been living this life long enough that we forget where we came from and how we got here.
We forget.
We just live.
The grin creeps up my face. Slowly at first, but by the time we get to the top of the stairs and we’re standing in front of the door that leads into the Little Sister dorm, my smile is wide and beaming.
Perhaps it is not a write up in a history book.
Perhaps being a wife and mother to the child of a scholar is mundane.
Lackluster. Tame and ordinary.
That’s how Tau City Jasina Bell would see it.
But Train Tunnel Jasina Bell feels like this is winning.
I open the door to the dorm, practically bursting with excitement over my news and wanting to tell Finn about it so bad, I feel like I might explode. But I hold it in when I see what’s on the other side.
It’s not a big empty room at the top of a hidden set of stairs. Well, technically, those two things are still true. The room is big and the stairs are still in the same place, but it’s not empty.
And unlike the ruined, tattered, and decaying city outside that needs to be rebuilt, the interior of the dorm is… perfect. Not a single thing out of place. It’s filled with living spaces. Filled with beds, and cozy nooks, and soft lighting, and clean floors. All the beds are made, all the shelves have books and other things, like candles, on them. There are even fluffy rugs on the floors.
Utterly convinced that there are no people here—I can feel this to be true as much as I have witnessed it—I step forward, hands on hips. “What the hell?”
Finn closes the door behind us. “What do you mean?”
“All these fuckin’ bedrooms? I don’t get it, Finn. Why choose a hundred girls to go live in a dorm that holds… I dunno, a thousand? What is with all these beds?”
Finn blows out a breath as he looks around. “Haven’t a clue, to tell you the truth. This is the first time I actually knew it was a problem.”
“As soon as I got to the Little Sister dorm, I saw it. I mean, all the living spaces near the canal were filled up. Even up to the fourth floor. But the moment I went exploring deeper in, it stopped making sense. Even in our dorm, which didn’t have as many bedrooms as this one, there were hundreds of empty living spaces. All the beds were made, all the little nooks were cozy with blankets, all the shelves holding trinkets or books. Why?” I spin slowly in place, my arms out wide. “Why does this place exist? Because it’s certainly not to hold the top one hundred potential Spark Maidens.”
Finn’s thoughtful eyes scan the room as he takes his turn slowly spinning in place. “Hmmmm. You’ve got a point.” Then he looks at me, letting out a sharp breath. “And I think I have an answer, but it’s not a pleasant one.”
“What do you mean? What is it?”
He winces. “I’m not sure you need to know, Jasina. I mean, isn’t ignorance bliss sometimes?”
I recoil. “No. Never. There is never a time when ignorance is bliss. What is going on? What do you know? Tell me. Please. I will never stop thinking about this mystery if you don’t.”
He doesn’t give in. Not immediately, at least. He takes a moment to think. Then he shrugs. “All right. I’ll tell you, but it’s just a theory.”
“OK, hold on. Why do you have a theory about the Little Sister dorm in the first place?”
“I don’t. My theory really has nothing to do with the dorm. It’s just… what I saw back in Tau City. When they had Donal in that chair and he was… feeding off them.” He pans a hand to indicate the dorm spaces, which in turn implies the Little Sisters who live in them. “I think… and I know we both know this. On some level, at least. But I think they just… grow you.”
I blink at him. Hearing what he said. Understanding the words.
But the implications.
“It’s a farm. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Well.” He shrugs. “I’ve never heard of the word factory before we came down here to the train tunnels. But think about it, Jasina. There are cities. Many identical cities. And all of them seem to be producing spark. If we had stumbled in to a stable, for instance, filled with… sheep, or some other animal producing meat or wool, it would not be hard to figure out what a factory is, would it?”