Tazina and Al stared at me after I finished telling them what I’d learned from Leslie. And that I had volunteered to take on the mission. I had also told them that Leslie had refused my offer.
Taz remained completely silent, her jaw practically on the floor.
“Why,” Al began, “of all the things you could do in your life, would you want to go back in?!”
“I don’t,” I replied. “But I’m a perfect fit. I’m exactly the kind of person Leslie’s been looking for. Unless, one of you wants to do it.”
“I’d rather staple my tongue,” Al replied immediately.
Taz scoffed. “Even if I could,” she said, tapping the arm of her wheelchair, “I wouldn’t.”
“Great!” I said, clapping my hands together. “So you can help me convince Leslie to let me go in. They’ll be down to meet with us soon.”
They stared at me in horrified silence.
“No,” Al said, shaking his head aggressively. “I will have nothing to do with this! Iewjlemdfjdhsitjkmewfdjshriojfkamdfjaida.”
He dragged his chair from beside Tazina’s desk back to our counter. Al suddenly seemed extremely invested in the System device we’d been going through for weeks now.
When I looked back at Tazina, she had her head propped in one hand while the other tapped the arm of her chair. At least one of my coworkers seemed to be on my side.
“Reinstating a blacklisted number would be easier than making one from scratch. It would still take time, though. What was your number?”
“112628,” I replied.
As soon as Tazina had turned to her computer, Leslie arrived in our little basement. “Did you find something new on the device?” they asked.
“They agree I’m the best candidate for your mission,” I stated.
“I said no such thing!” Al piped up.
Leslie crossed their arms, jaw clenched as they met my eyes, the clacking of Tazina’s keyboard the only thing filling the silence.
“Unless you’ve found another volunteer,” I said calmly.
Leslie stayed silent, shaking their head.
“Um,” Tazina began hesitantly, “she… has a point, Director. You’re not gonna find another volunteer easily.”
Leslie took a deep breath, then, very slowly, said, “A volunteer and a good candidate are two different things. You’re not trained for this, Dax, and you’re not doing it. End of discussion.”
They turned their back on me. End of discussion, my ass. I jumped to my feet, causing the chair to topple to the ground.
“My life in the System may not have ended well,” I called, “but you don’t know what I was like before that! You don’t - !”
“Whoa!” Taz exclaimed.
That got everyone’s attention.
“Breaking System cameras, poisoning fountains.”
“I spilled nail polish once!” I interjected.
“Defacing clothes?!” Taz turned her chair, giving me an incredulous look. “The System lists all that as accidents. It would’ve led to confinement for anyone else. How’d you get away with it?”
“Convincing the System you’re clumsy goes a long way,” I replied.
I looked back at Leslie who stared toward Tazina’s computer with a blank expression.
“If it makes you feel better,” I said, earning a sideways glance from Leslie, “most of that happened after I got off soot.”
Slowly, Leslie walked over to Tazina’s computer and read over the file she’d pulled up. As they read, I noticed a spark of… something appear in their eyes. Maybe they were impressed. There was a lot more in my file than what Tazina had listed off.
Leslie glanced at me, a slight frown on their lips. “Fine,” they huffed out, a hint of resignation in their voice. “But you’ll have to pass the committee assessments first.”
To be continued…