PART I Chapter 1

New York City, Times Square SafeZone

2081

Thursday 19h25

Aminah squirmed in her seat and surreptitiously tapped her ring.

“Honey, quit that. You know better. The show’s about to start,” her mother said. Aminah sighed and slumped in her chair, slightly annoyed that she would have to check her messages at intermission. She had been going to Broadway openings with her parents since as long as she could remember, but all she wanted to do that night was see her friends.

From the other side of her mother, Aminah’s father’s smiling face appeared. “Don’t worry,” he whispered as the light in the theater dimmed, “I’ll ask your mother for a free pass for you for the opening in two weeks. You should be celebrating your sweet seventeenth with your friends.”

Her mother smiled and her face softened. “We’ll see about that,” she said with a small grin. “Now hush.”

The red velvet curtains parted, trumpets blared and Aminah’s eyes wandered. Her parents were so boring. They looked happy and shiny but never did anything cool. Not like Rhonda’s parents. Her dress itched, and she wondered how all of these people managed to wear something exotic, fashionable and new every other night. It was all so uncomfortable. And she could never figure out why people fussed so much about these things. They didn’t all have to dress up and go out — they could just watch at home.

A titter from behind her pulled her attention away from the sea of reds, blues, yellows and shine of the women in the audience punctuated by the staid black and white tuxedos of the men. A few rows back sat Blatty’s mother Linda and a group of thirty-something-looking fifty-year-olds. They fiddled and pulled at small boxes of white powder, elegantly long fingernails scooping in to deliver some goodness to their nostrils.

She knew exactly what that was, and soon, she would know it better. As the first song came up on stage, Aminah felt at her ring and glanced to the right at her mother, who was mesmerized by the crystal syrup of Alana Wang’s voice. She could check her messages. Activating the small ring on her left pinky finger with a wave, Aminah glanced through a string of text glowing on the palm of her hand.

The message was from Blatty.

What time do you break free from there?

Aminah quickly motioned a message back, deft fingers making small motions next to her leg, away from her mother’s sight.

Your mom is here. I think we’ll be done at ten.

Tell your parents we have a group project and meet Rhonda and me at my apartment. Mom’s not coming home after the show. She’s with the Lovely Ladies, isn’t she?

She took a quick peek behind her. Yup. Linda was with Kiki Forrester, Maddie Wilkes, N’Gonde, Lilleth Lee and a couple of other people she didn’t know. They giggled again, looking up at something in the balcony to their right. Aminah followed their gaze and spotted a group of young, sharply dressed men gathered at the golden railing.

Yeah, she is.

Definitely not coming home tonight. Okay see you later. Time to introduce you to our new best friends.

“Aminah,” came a stern whisper from the dark.

“Sorry, Mom.” Aminah looked up on stage just in time to see the leading man, Helmots, float in with feathery wings on his back and a sweet tune rolling off of his tongue. He was not a bad looking fellow. Eyes gleaming in anticipation of what the night would bring, Aminah fell into the story of Winged Wonder.

The sleek black limousine pulled up to the curb just outside of the Waldorf Tower and Aminah jumped out.

“I have a group meeting with some kids from school, be home before midnight!”

Before her parents could step out of the car had a chance to ask any questions, Aminah hiked up her slim-fitting yellow dress and hustled into the lobby. She flew into the elevators, pressed the button for the 164th floor, then allowed herself to take a breath. Ideally, she would have changed her outfit, but a stop at the apartment might have given her parents the chance to keep her at home to do something ridiculous, like eat.

She bobbed impatiently as the elevator took her past the sports floor, food production levels and the entertainment center into the residential floors. After a few minutes, the car finally stopped and the doors slid open. Aminah took a few steps into the lowly-lit, wood-paneled hallway and padded down the carpeted floor towards the second apartment on the floor. At the end of the hall, she waved her hand in front of a palm-sized black square marked with the letter “B” in flowery script by the side of a door. Delicious anxiety began to build in the pit of her stomach.

After a few seconds, the door slid open and Aminah took a furtive step into a large room with obsidian floors and walls cracked by ribbons of crystal. Abstract panels of real paintings hung on the walls and soft lights filled the room with a soft blue hue.

“Aminah! We’re over here!”

Aminah turned towards the faint voice and headed towards the open door to the balcony. The deck was decorated in the same classical style as the living room. Blatty didn’t have any music on. The only sounds she could hear were the odd pulse of bass from one of the buildings next door and the faint fizz and crackle of the light drizzle on the SafeZone forcefield high overhead. On a plush couch facing out into the skyline of the Times Square SafeZone sat two figures. Rhonda and Blatty. Aminah waved and bounced towards them.

“What took you so long? We’re ready!” Blatty said, running a hand over his clean-shaven head.

“Sorry — it took ages to get out of the theater. Everyone wanted to shake mom’s hand.” Aminah rolled her eyes. “So where did you get this stuff?”

Blatty laughed. “Are you kidding? Mom’s got it coming out of every drawer in this house. She doesn’t keep track of any of it. But we’ll save that for later.”

“Yeah,” Rhonda said. “I took some from my brother. Apparently it’s the best for the first time.” She swept frizzy brown hair out of her eyes and pulled a small case the size of a thumb nail out of her pocket. The silvery case gleamed in the reflection of the neighboring buildings. A big, white letter “Y” split the case into three and the word “OOMPA” was engraved in small black letters in the center. She slid it open, revealing small pills that looked like white candy mints jiggling around inside.

Aminah put her hand out, but then drew it back. “Shouldn’t we wait until we’re eighteen to be doing this guys?”

Rhonda groaned. “Come ON, Queen Ameen! We’ve been waiting to do this since we were seven! I let you talk me into letting my synaptic links strengthen first, but come on! We’re already sixteen. Why wait any longer? You’re already a genius and I’m bored as hell.”

“Yeah, our entire class is already all Y’ed up half the time!” Blatty chimed in.

Aminah bit her lip and looked into Rhonda’s eyes. “You promise we’ll be okay?”

“More than okay, honey. Come on, we’ve been best friends for ages, and Blatty and I have been going out for two years. We’ll be okay. We don’t have to go anywhere else tonight. Everyone looks like they’re having so much fun on it — we don’t have to wait two more years. That’s just to be able to buy it.”

“And,” Blatty said, “the best part is that there’s no hangover. Not like drinking. You can still function. This is probably why everyone does it.”

“Except my parents.”

“You don’t actually know whether they do it or not.”

“Blatty, your pupils dilate.”

“Oh, well…”

“Look, honey,” Rhonda said, exasperated. She began again more gently. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep doing it.”

Aminah felt very uncool at that moment. She steeled herself. “Right. Well. Okay.” Aminah held her hand out again, glancing back and forth between Blatty and Rhonda. Rhonda dispensed. When each of them held a small pill marked with an “O”, jaws worked up with mouths full of saliva, Rhonda nodded.

“To us and Y,” Rhonda said. They knocked closed fists together. “One. Two… Three.” Three heads tipped backwards simultaneously, and as three sets of pupils looked up into the night sky, three sets of pupils dilated, and three more minds initiated themselves into a wave of ecstasy.

23h50

Winged Wonder was an earth-shattering success. Perspiring, blood pulsing with adrenaline and body heated up despite the cold air of the theater, Laney Potts stood lost on stage among hundreds of dancers and smiled her biggest smile. She had never heard such thunderous applause in her life. What a break. The entire bedazzled house was on its feet.

She itched to take the blue bobbed wig off of her head, and looked forward to a good night’s rest. Thanks to these gigs, she had Permission to Stay in the Times Square SafeZone. Her Permission was limited to the Entertainer’s Overnight Quarters immediately after the show ended, but she didn’t have to worry about a thing. No more battening down bunkers and eating crap — from Monday to Friday at least.

After what seemed like endless applause and encores, the curtain finally closed. Laney and the other back-up dancers hugged each other in glee, then began to disperse as massive crowds formed around Helmots and Alana Wang. Helmots and Alana were stars and had their own Permissions to Reside in Times Square SZ. Laney was a long way from that.

It was 11:53 — she had seven minutes to get to the Entertainer’s Quarters before a dull throb would begin to beleaguer her right shoulder. This would last for fifteen minutes — if she still didn’t get to the Quarters by fifteen past curfew… She shuddered as exhaustion began to creep into her muscles, not wanting to think about what would happen.

Laney had known someone who foolishly accepted Y from an “adoring fan” after a show and didn’t manage to make it to Quarters within the the fifteen-minute grace period. It had happened four years before, at one of Laney’s first shows. The poor girl had been young — only 18 years old. The fan had convinced her to stay somewhere in the dark corridors of the theater. Afterwards, Laney had overheard from one of the stars that she could hear the girl’s endless screaming from the dressing rooms. Since then, Laney made it a point to never get caught out, even for a minute.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Laney shoved her shoulder into a thick door and barreled into the Quarters at precisely 11:29. Finally pulling off the itchy wig, she made her way to a small bunk in a room she shared with seven other entertainers. Grabbing a bland sandwich from the food tray by the door, she greeted her roommates between bites and wolfed down her food before doing a final stretch and changing quickly out of her blue sequined leotard. Laney set her alarm for an hour before First Light and settled into the small, but comfortable bed.

She had to conserve energy, but allowed herself to mentally switch gears before she drifted off to sleep. Her day job this week would be a nightmare; everyone seemed to be in a crazy state with the upcoming board meetings in DC. Soon, she hoped, she wouldn’t have to moonlight anymore. Her boss had just gotten promoted; maybe she would get hired full time. She would get Permission to Reside in one of the Firm’s functional SafeZones. Maybe Great Central fSZ one day. Images of the vaulted beaux-arts ceiling — thankfully spared during the wars — papered her brain as she closed her eyes and slept.