Brave New Worlds

small areas? Why are they always near the borders? How does Disease Control respond so quickly? the pills have kept us docile, but the time has come to act! We've made contact with—"
    The doors behind them crashed open, the doorway filled with plainclothes SD and uniformed cops, guns out.
    "Hold it!" someone shouted, and the police charged the projector booth.
    A young man jumped out of the booth and crash-landed in the aisle, grabbing Greg's seat to pull himself up—the boy was young, blond, his face tight with pain or fear, and for a moment he was just staring at them, his hands flexed on Greg's armrest.
    Then he sprinted for the exit and disappeared.
    The cops and SDs tripped over themselves back down the projection-room stairs, and they scattered—some for the exits, some for the audience.
    Greg and Liz were yanked out of their seats and dragged outside into a holding pen of cop cars, along with the rest of the audience. Liz saw a few of the ones who had tried to run and hadn't made it.
    "I don't want to go into the station," Greg told her. "It could end up on my record. "
    He still hoped that someday he could get closer—any closer—to Disease Control.
    Liz faked a storm of tears when the cops were close enough to see it, and they handed Greg a printout and stamped his ticket stubs and told him to be a gentleman and take her home, already.
    "I'm looking for a refund for this prank," Greg told them half-seriously, "I want you to know that. "
    On the walk home, Greg read from the printout; a standard-issue distribution, without a date on it. They'd had it ready to go, just in case.
    Greg flashed the picture of a frowning boy dragging a skull-emblazoned bag behind him.
    Pranks are FOOLISH and WASTE THE TIME of VALUABLE CITIZENS. They DISTRACT from safety work and INTERFERE with your government. If you see a PRANKSTER, contact your local precinct.
    The bottom read, in large block letters, TODAY'S DELINQUENT IS TOMORROW'S CRIMINAL.
    "Hold it," said the blond kid from behind her, and Liz felt the point of a knife in her back.
    "Or today's criminal," Liz said.
    Greg leveled a look at the kid. "Keep it cool, Johnny Doe. What do you want?"
    "Your car. "
    "Don't have one. "
    Johnny pulled a face. "Shit. Well. Give me your money," he said, and nudged Liz with his shoulder (not, she noted, with the knife).
    "What, you're going to buy a bus pass and ride out of town on the local?" Liz asked, but she handed over her purse. "Seventeen dollars. Enjoy. "
    Johnny thumbed through the wallet with his free hand. "they've got my car," he told them like they were all friends. "I need to get out of here. They'll kill me. "
    Liz didn't doubt that.
    Greg glanced around at the quiet street. Ahead of them was the main drag, swarming with people going out to the City Fair on subsidized dates.
    "You should go," said Johnny. "You'll be in trouble if they see you with me. "
    Greg looked like he was in the middle of a magnificent adventure, and was sneaking looks at Johnny's sharp profile when he thought Johnny wasn't looking, and Liz knew what was coming before Greg even opened his mouth.
    Greg asked, "What do you need?"

    Liz and Greg signed into a Society hotel just off the main drag. The concierge registered them, stamped their paper, and smiled politely. No speeches about exit stamps this time—it was gauche for concierges to keep track of that sort of thing.
    They closed the door and looked at one another like it was their first date again. Liz felt an itch just under her skin, like she was sick, like she needed to run until she dropped. She felt like Greg looked.
    Greg laid his tie over the chair and looked at her. "What if they trace him to my apartment? What if they find him there?"
    Liz figured if they found a good-looking young man in Greg's apartment, he'd be in trouble for a lot more than harboring a fugitive.
    "Come on," said Liz, tugging gently at the tongue of his belt. "We have work to do. Just close your eyes and think of Johnny. "

    At the door of the hotel, Greg kissed her cheek goodnight. He seemed surprised when she fell into step beside him instead of turning for her street, but he took her arm without hesitation.
    "Just curious to see what he does in civilization," she said when she felt him looking at her. "Besides, I'm your alibi if anyone's found him. "
    "God, that's the truth," he said, and pressed her hand more tightly into the crook of his arm.
    John Doe was gone, having availed himself of Greg's good