**Chapter Three**

  *Not Everyone Gets Called. You Did. Answer The Call. Change Your Ring.*

  The mechanical voice of the holo-feed faded to the background as the line inched forward. Efiok lifted his Slab to his face again; 17:59:23. He reached the tap and filled the drum. He stepped aside so that Ayo too could do the same, his eyes searching for her Slab. She corked her drum and hoisted it to her shoulder, locking eyes with him and tilting her head slightly.

  "Get a move on already! I don't have all day and the daily limit might kick in any minute now." The man behind Ayo cursed at Efiok. He shook his head, hoisted his drum on his shoulder and led Ayo back toward the stairwell. They began their ascent.

  Efiok focused on putting one foot in front of the other, his concentration only broken by residents either going down to the lower floors or those passing him by. His left knee buckled midstep after half an hour. He kept walking, limping slightly. "Let's take a quick break here." He said as he sat on the steps, rubbing his knee.

  "Finally." She gave him a tired reply as she put the drum down. He took out his Slab again and checked the countdown timer; 17:28:42. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Ayo tipped the drum to her mouth taking a sip.

  "What're you doing?! " He stood from the step and dragged the drum from her mouth.

  "Ehn?" Her brows furrowed in confusion. "I should be telling you that. I've been screaming for a break for hours but you didn't even spare me a glance! You know I hate tap mornings." She panted lightly as she wiped her mouth, sweat dripped down her forehead.

  "Are you crazy? Public water could be filled with the Worm." He hissed with a frown.

  "How are you so sure?! Everyone drinks it and I've never seen any Blanks before a cascade." She glared at him.

  Shaking his head, he set down the drum and sat, "besides you seemed really eager this morning." She looked away. They both sat there in silence again, only the soft beeping of the countdown timer echoed through the silence of the stairwell.

  "Ayo, you remember what we promised each other. You, me, and Timi." His gaze moved from her face to the ground, "It's been a few years now, but I still remember."

  "Where did that come from?" She wiped her forehead.

  "The Middle-ring. That was the goal and we both know how vocal Timi always is...was when it came to that." He paused as a kid ran past him down the stairs. His gaze returned to the countdown timer as it beeped softly, "but this isn't the way out."

  "It's an opportunity." She muttered as she switched her Slab on and off. He pinched the bridge of his nose, they'd done this little dance every year for four years now. After a minute, he massaged his knee as he pushed himself back to his feet. "C'mon, let's go. I'm running late to work." He hoisted the drum back on his shoulder, putting his back to her and continued the ascent in silence.

  They made it to their cell a while later. Efiok put some water into the sink to wash up while Ayo dropped her drum at the base of the shelf. She sat on her mattress, her eyes on the window. After a few minutes, Efiok grabbed a pouch off the shelf and with his toolkit in hand, he moved towards the door. He opened it, then turned to face her, "There might be a neural cascade today, so make sure you find shelter immediately. If you're still at the old man's place when it hits, stay there, that's the second best place around. Or better still, don't leave the building today."

  "I can't stay here doing nothing all day. I have a morning shift at the fields today." She pulled out a green coveralls from beside her mattress, placing it beside her Slab. His eyes lingered on the device for a moment, "what'd you mean? Why would you be at the fields?" He tilted his head slightly with a frown.

  Ayo's eyes widened for a moment, "right! I meant old Rick's workshop. Force of habit." She snatched a cup from somewhere under the mattress, walked over to the sink and filled it with water from the tap. The meter on the wall beeped as slightly brown water filled the cup. Watching her, he exhaled then turned around and left the cell, "just stay safe, please."

  Out in the hallway, his eyes drifted to the door next door, staying on it for a minute. He turned and walked down the hall to the stairwell.

  The stairwell was packed and chaotic with residents all heading for their day jobs. A baby's shrill cry tore through the chaos of the stairwell. Straining his neck as the human current pulled him downstairs, he caught sight of a woman cooing her crying baby. *Elaine, was it?* The woman's face was red and her eyes were puffy, Finn was nowhere in sight. Efiok looked away.

  *...The Call. Change Your Ring. Not ...*

  He stepped off the stairwell onto the ground floor. It was flooded by people but he noticed they were fewer than last year. He navigated his way towards the exit and the moment he stepped foot outside, he was met with the whirring of machinery. The artificial sky up above the dome glowed with a constant blue. The street was packed, as people in faded white and dirty green coveralls swarmed up and down like ants. He walked down the street toward the T-junction. He turned left and walked a little further down the road. He stopped in front of a building that stood out from the others lining the street. It was a little shorter than the other monotonous buildings and there was a red blazing logo displayed above the entrance, the logo of the Corporate, the red paint was peeling off the edges. A few faded white coveralls trickled in and out of the building.

  Beside the entrance stood a notice board, a crowd was already forming in front of it. It had a long list of names, with new ones being added in real time. Efiok pushed through the crowd, some were crying while others held boots, scraps or other mundane things tightly. Reaching the front, he swept over the names; DEPARTED, DEPARTED, DEPARTED... his head turned left and right as the names trickled to a stop. At the top of the board, a timer flashed;

  LIST REFRESHES IN 15:58:09

  After a minute, Efiok exhaled and stepped through the rotating doors.

  Inside, on the ground floor, there were about a dozen people chatting amongst themselves in groups. Up ahead, a black metal table sat out of place with a bored receptionist behind it. He walked straight to the receptionist, exchanging nods on the way. Behind the receptionist, there was a plastic logo of the Corporate nailed to the wall, the paint had long faded away making it look milky white. The woman behind the desk dressed in better white coveralls finally registered his existence, a pleasant smile bloomed on her bored face.

  "Good morning, Effie. Check in?" She asked as she brought up a holo-feed with names displayed on.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Morning, Anne. Yes, please." He gave her a polite smile. He watched as she blitzed through names until she found his and marked it.

  "Done." She said flatly without looking up.

  "So, is there a job for me today?" He asked. She looked up at him and tilted her head then blitzed through the holo-feed again. She finally stopped after a long minute.

  "Yeah, a faulty Flux filter was reported at building 26 just before the border with B9, ringside." She rattled off with her eyes fixed on the holo-feed.

  "B9? That's on the other side of town and there might be a cascade today. Is there really nothing else?" He asked pleadingly.

  "That's all we have. We're short on manpower right now since the Harvest keeps taking our best." She shook her head, a slight frown appearing on her face, "also, another technician from the B9 branch should be joining you there. That way you should be done in half the time after getting there, hopefully before the cascade if it does happen."

  "B9? You know how those ringsiders are, it'd take me double the time. I'd rather do it alone." His brows furrowed.

  "Too late. Their application's already been approved, so you'd have to make do."

  He took out his Slab and checked the time. It was a few minutes past eight, the countdown notification kept blinking, occupying most of the screen. He needed to get at least one job done a day or he won't get enough tokens. He chewed his lip as he stared at the flashing numbers. After a few moments, "I'd take it."

  "Ok, let me get it on your Slab." She navigated the holo-feed and Efiok's Slab went off with a chime. A smaller notification with a 12 hour countdown timer appeared on the screen, ticking silently. "According to protocol, you have 12 hours to get the job done or risk a fine. Any complications that come up during the repair that can't be resolved on site are to be reported to the Corporate immediately." She rattled off in that same flat tone.

  "Yeah, I'm already living day to day, no reason to make it worse. I just hope it's a routine fix or this would be a waste of time." He said with a wry smile on his face as he turned around, "I should probably get going, time's ticking."

  "You know it's just company policy, no one ever cares about it though. Good luck out there." Anne called out behind him. He crossed the hall and stepped out on the street. He joined the slightly reduced traffic and turned left towards B9.

  A massive wall that stretched away in both directions into the distance appeared up ahead. It had a large B7 imprinted on it at regular intervals along its entire length. Somewhere down the wall, it joined up with another one bordering another sector. The street he was on led up to the wall and straight into it, there was a checkpoint with Corporate officers in white coveralls monitoring the traffic. Only those with business in other sectors were allowed to leave for a limited time. The throng had thinned out at this point so he peeled off the street onto a side street. He moved through the side street, his eyes scanning for the number 26 on buildings. After a few minutes, his eyes landed on the number.

  There was a man in white coveralls standing before the entrance looking around, a toolkit in his hand. He had a wide smile and curious eyes. He stood out in the sea of green and white with his bright coveralls.

  Efiok called out as he approached the man, "Hey, are you the technician from B9? I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long." The man turned, his posture relaxed slightly. "Oh? Yeah. That's me and no, you didn't." Efiok studied the man for a moment; at first glance, his face seemed just like the rest of them. But if he looked hard enough he could see dark circles under his eyes. He could also notice the man's slightly white coveralls looked baggy over his figure.

  "Name's Efiok." He offered the man his hand.

  "I'm Reno, nice to meet you." The man took Efiok's hand in his and squeezed, the smile never leaving his face.

  "Let's get going, I've spent an hour getting here and I want to get this done with as soon as I can." He gestured to the building and led Reno through the entrance. He brought out his Slab and clicked on the 12 hour countdown notification. It had two options displayed on the interface, 'schematics' and 'Report Issue'. He tapped 'schematics' and the building's layout filled the screen.

  "The issue is in maintenance shaft 4, level 14." A slight frown appeared on his face. "Level 14?! That's more than half the entire way up, the climb would take hours." Reno eyed the building's length.

  "We don't have a choice. We've both already claimed the job so we need to get it done." He stepped into the building.

  *...Answer The Call. Change Your...*

  Efiok looked around the ground floor. It was mostly empty with most of the residents out for the day. He gave Reno a side glance as the man looked around with his eyes lingering on the holo-feed in the ceiling.

  "I hope I get picked for this cycle's Harvest." He said as he turned to face Efiok with a smile tugged at his lips. "I've been volunteering for years now but I haven't been lucky. Yet." He stared at Efiok, expecting a reply.

  "Let's go." Efiok strode across the hall to the door set into the far wall between the stairwells, he scanned his Slab and the door clicked open. The door led to the inside of the wall. A rusty ladder stretched up into the darkness. The air felt stale with the smell of Flux and the only light source was the flickering bulbs installed into the walls at intervals.

  "You're going first or...?" Reno eyed the ladder. Efiok stared up into the darkness then took a step forward and started climbing. Reno stayed for a moment, observing the ladder as it creaked slightly under Efiok's weight. "Are you coming or not?" Efiok said as he kept climbing, "this is going to be a long climb." "Yeah, I'm coming." The man exhaled as he reluctantly started climbing.

  They climbed in silence as levels passed them by. Efiok focused on controlling his breath and counting the levels, he could hear shallow breaths somewhere below him. They kept pressing forward, the levels falling slowly. His fingers slipped around the ladder and his knees ached when he reached the 9th level.

  "Let's take a five minute break here." He called out as he hooked one arm around the ladder and fished through his pocket with the other. He took out the water pouch and popped the cap. Reno slowly emerged from the darkness beneath him gasping, his face was a mess of sweat and mucus. He looked up at Efiok with tired eyes and a thin smile on his face, "so this was a little worse than usual." He chuckled dryly, "do you think you can go slower? You Outliers are built different." A frown appeared on Efiok's face as he stared at Reno in silence. Shaking his head, he took a sip from the pouch, he was tempted to down the entire pouch.

  "You're all the same." He whispered, almost to himself. They stood there, listening to the muffled sounds of residents shouting and kids screaming through the walls. Efiok capped the pouch and pocketed it, "Break's over." He resumed the climb, not waiting for a reply. Reno stood there staring at the wall then started climbing again, a frown on his face.

  They climbed three more levels when a step broke under Reno's weight and in his attempt to rescue himself, he collided full force with the ladder. Efiok turned as the ladder thrashed around.

  "What are you doing?!" He hissed at the man. Reno didn't reply, he just hugged the ladder breathing slowly. Efiok looked up, then down at the struggling man. *This is why I hate working with ringsiders.*

  He climbed down a bit, "Hey, what gives?" He called out.

  "Sorry. I just need a minute or two to catch my breath," he looked up at Efiok, "and...I'm a little parched." The words weakly escaped Reno's throat. Efiok stared at the man hugging the ladder, "What? You're thirsty? Drink some water then." Reno chuckled dryly, "I can't drink water if there isn't any." They fell into silence again, only Reno's ragged breaths the only sound between them.

  "Why don't you have water?" Efiok broke the silence. Reno looked up at him with a smile, "because I'm broke." He slowly set his foot on the ladder as he stared at the wall, "I took this job cause I heard there is a shortage of technicians here and I need the tokens. I thought it would be an easy fix but..." He looked around.

  Efiok looked down at the man, his sweaty palms felt slippery as he held onto the ladder.

  "First time on the darkside?" He stretched out his pouch with a frown. Reno looked up at the pouch then at Efiok. He reached out and took it with a smile, "not really, I've been crossing over months now." He popped the cap and took a swig, Efiok's face squeezed a little. He looked away, "months? Ringsiders rarely come here twice."

  "Well, I'm hardly your usual ringsider." He took a sip.

  Some color returned to Reno's face as he panted lightly, "apart from being further away from the Blight and the Whites crawling around, ringside's nothing special."

  "And no cascades." Efiok added.

  "Yeah, and that too." Reno smiled, "When I pass through, I do some sightseeing sometimes but it's like I never left B9 except the air smelt different." He looked at Efiok with his usual smile as he handed back the pouch, "and the Blight in the distance.'

  Efiok's fingers tightened slightly as he shook the pouch before he pocketed it, "Come on, Let's get this done with."

  "Yes boss." Reno gave a weak reply. They resumed their climb, this time slowly. Efiok kept glancing down at Reno as the man pushed his feet upward, one step at a time. They reached Level 14 soon after.

  Horizontal shafts lined the wall opposite the ladder. Efiok counted from bottom up as he slowly climbed. He stopped in front of one, it was pitch darkness. He fished through his toolkit and fixed a torch to his chest, and crossed into it. He crawled down the shaft with Reno following behind him. Shouts echoed below them as they passed devices whirring in the wall. Efiok stopped in front of one, a black goo was dripping from it.

  He stared at it for a moment, a scowl appearing on his face. "We'd have to report this one." He turned to face Reno. "What?" The smile on the man's face morphed into a look of confusion. "The Flux core's shattered." Efiok said as he prodded the device with a screwdriver.

  "That can't be possible." He pushed past Efiok, sweat dripping from his head and his breathing was ragged.

  Efiok tore his gaze to the man, "we'd have to head back and check if there's a spare.

  *6 hours remaining*. The familiar holo-feed voice rang out in the empty shaft as both men's Slabs lit up. Efiok gazed at his Slab's screen, at the now-halved job timer then at the blinking Harvest's notification.

  He crouched over the filter, chewing his lip. After a few moments, "Come on, let's get out of here." He pocketed his Slab and turned around crawling past Reno. Reno grabbed his arm tightly, "we can't just leave. You heard, we have 6 hours left to fix this. If we leave now, we won't make it in time."

  "We could try to file an extension at the branch." He twisted his arm free and pushed past the man.

  "And if there's no spare? We have to try something. Come on, we've both probably fixed like a thousand filters between us. I'm sure we can try to salvage..."

  Efiok glared at the man and clamped his mouth shut, "do you want to disappear? This is how you do." He hissed through his teeth as his eyes slowly moved to the Slab in Reno's hand.

  The screen had turned bright red as it emitted a sharp scratching sound. Down below them, similar screeching sounds echoed throughout the building, increasing by the minute. Hurried footsteps ran down the floor below them. Efiok's Slab soon joined in as it screamed out. He met Reno's gaze,

  "Cascade."