Crewel

up a soft robe and I slip it on over the thin gown and sit down on the nearest cot; the sheets crinkle up around my legs. Scooting back to the wall, I feel rough plastic under me. This isn’t the soft, comfortable bed I’m used to in my quarters, but it’s a huge improvement on the exam slab.
    Squeezing my eyes shut, I open them and then repeat the action, trying to flush the gel from my eyes. I want to see where I am. Any area of the compound where outsiders work is territory I’d like to chart. But before I can even examine the shelf in the corner, the nurse reappears and helps Pryana onto the bed next to mine.
    ‘I thought you girls could visit,’ she says brightly.
    ‘That was nice of you,’ I say, and she beams back at me before bustling out of the room.
    Pryana stares ahead, ignoring me.
    ‘Well, that was fun,’ I say conversationally.
    ‘You’re twisted,’ she says, not looking at me.
    ‘Maybe, but it was the best two hours of my life.’
    ‘Two hours?’ she asks. ‘It took you that long?’
    I frown. What does that mean?
    ‘I was done in half an hour,’ she says, glancing briefly in my direction.
    ‘Oh,’ I say. ‘Probably less to map.’
    ‘I probably don’t need remapping,’ she spits back.
    ‘Sure, you’re just what they want,’ I say.
    Her eyes narrow, but she picks up a catalogue and flips through it. ‘Madilyne told me that unless the initial scans registered a need for remapping, the whole procedure would take less than an hour,’ she says, the side of her mouth curling up.
    ‘Who’s Madilyne?’ I ask.
    ‘My mentor,’ she says, as though this is obvious. ‘Didn’t yours tell you anything?’
    ‘She told me enough.’
    ‘Well,’ Pryana says with a smirk, ‘I’d get a new mentor. Yours clearly isn’t doing her job.’
    ‘Are you volunteering?’ I ask.
    ‘Careful, Adelice, or they’ll think you’re coming on to me.’
    As much as I loathe Pryana, I turn and look at her directly. ‘Did they ask you about that?’
    ‘About what?’ she says, but then she sighs, grudgingly meeting my eyes.
    ‘Other Spinsters, you know . . .’
    ‘Hitting on me?’ She shrugs. ‘Yeah, it was weird.’
    Pryana turns back to her shopping. She seems less than interested by the mapping questions. But if she’s being truthful, and it is only a half-hour procedure, she doesn’t have nearly as much to worry about.
    Since it’s probably not a good idea to snoop around with her here, I try not to be disappointed that I can’t get a better look at this wing of the Coventry. It’s under surveillance anyway. I flip through a catalogue but don’t order anything. Meanwhile Pryana barks out order after order to the companel. If her wardrobe is half the size of mine, she doesn’t need any of it. But she strikes me as a girl who’s here to get her duty’s worth. Finally Nurse Renni reappears with our clothing. We dress in a hurry, our backs turned to each other. A guard meets us at the door and leads us through the sterile corridor. There is nothing here to distinguish one door from another. No sign to suggest what happens in the rooms we pass. Not even the sound of medics working. So much for my brilliant plan of using the mapping to get more info.
    But as the guard guides us into the main lobby, I spy a nurse busily updating a digifile as she disappears behind a grey swinging door. It’s the first medical personnel I’ve seen besides the doctor and Nurse Renni. Edging closer to the door, I catch glimpses as it slowly sways to a close – a long hallway, grey tile, a small security door, and on it the word ‘research’. It’s a good thing that monitor isn’t on me now, because my heart just stopped.
    ‘Ladies,’ the guard says, waiting for us like a gentleman at the access desk. We exit the clinic, and he takes us back to the high tower. As we walk, I track the number of turns and count each step I take. If I can manage it, I want to get back there. But first I’ll have to get clearance to go into the research area. Our escort deposits us at the brass lift, bowing slightly as he leaves.
    ‘What floor?’ Pryana asks.
    ‘F-f-fifteen,’ I stammer, shocked by the friendly gesture.
    She rolls her eyes.
    ‘What floor are you on?’ I ask.
    ‘Four.’
    I reach over to press the button for her floor, but her hand smacks mine away.
    ‘Don’t be stupid,’ she hisses. ‘If I have to ride in a lift with you, I’m going to see the high tower.’
    ‘You live in the high