Outside the Oasis: Part 1

“They said no? I can’t say I’m surprised,” Claire’s voice laughed in Mason’s ear.

Mason had created a connection between Claire, Taylor, and him and told them the bad news from the night before. He had gotten out of bed late, hoping that his mother would be out of the house before she had a chance to ridicule his dream car once more.

Sighing, Mason continued, “My mom said no, but my dad gave me authorization for the solar car, so I am confused.”

“So your mom said no, but your dad said yes?” Taylor chuckled.

“Is that a yes? Because the whole time he told me no, but in a weird way,” Mason continued.

“That’s how parents say yes without deliberately undermining their spouses,” Taylor began, “He told you no with his voice, and yes with his actions. He’s simply covering his ass if your mom accuses him of giving you permission.”

Mason didn’t know what to do with that information. Did his father really mean to give him permission to travel outside of the city to get his dream car?

Claire sounded distracted as she spoke, “How about you guys meet me at Sunset Tower and we can continue chatting? That will give me enough silence to finish the project I’m working on.”

“Sounds great! I’ll get some doughnuts,” Mason changed his trajectory and began walking toward the center of the city.

Taylor was quiet before she spoke, “I don’t know how to get there. How do I tell which one is Sunset Tower?”

“Meet me downstairs, we can walk together,” Mason told Taylor, and she agreed to the plan. The call ended with a click and Mason waited patiently for Taylor on a stone bench near a flower bed.

After waiting only a couple minutes, Taylor appeared in the entranceway of the tower that both she and Mason called home. Mason waved his hand above his head to get her attention, and she began to walk towards him. Taylor wore dark black jeans and a baggy, dark gray hoodie that hid her physique and posture. Her silky black hair was pinned behind her head in a tight bun and her hands were deep in her pockets.

They walked in silence and Mason tried his best to start a conversation here and there, but nothing stuck. Taylor was still as hard as ever to communicate with, and Mason was grateful when they came to the base of Sunset Tower. Taylor couldn’t tell any of these buildings apart, and she worried that Mason was leading her in circles so that she’d get lost. Mason, on the other hand, could navigate to this spire from anywhere in the city.

“Come on,” Mason waved as he approached the entrance.

“Where are we going?” Taylor asked, still rooted in place.

“To the top,” Mason smiled.

--=|=--

Once Mason and Taylor entered the building, they became immersed in the bustle of people and noise. Mason walked towards the central elevator shafts but quickly discovered that Taylor was no longer following him. Whirling around, he scanned the crowd to find her, but if he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t committed her features to memory. His eyes became more frantic as crowds of people fluctuated in and out of the building. Mason was certain that she had followed him in, but he had no idea how far he had walked before he lost her.

There were too many places Mason could look. On the ground floor of this particular building, there were two restaurants, a small coffee shop and brunch diner, a bicycle store, and a large seating area where many people lounged while enjoying their coffee. Mason moved around to get a better vantage point.

All of a sudden he saw her. While the throngs of people flowed around the lobby like water in a pool, Taylor stood like a river rock, motionless. Her eyes were fixed on a couple of kiosks that blinked bright lights and announced their purpose to the patrons nearby.

“What are these?” Taylor asked Maon as he approached her. Her gaze was that of a child watching an arcade machine.

“These are kiosks. We have kiosks all over the city that serve different purposes like communication and voting, but these ones are navigation kiosks,”. Mason approached one and tapped his finger on the screen.

All of the blinking lights turned green and a friendly voice began reading off instructions. Mason continued speaking, “You pick a destination, the kiosk sends the directions to your phone, and your phone will direct you to the place you want to go.”

“Mason continued pressing icons until he selected The Cheesy Slice. He took his phone and pressed it up against the screen, making both the kiosk and his phone blink green. He then turned towards Taylor and pointed to the silver device implanted around his ear canal. The device was small and he saw Taylor lean in to see it.

“You can’t hear it, but it’s telling me directions now,” Mason said as he tried to listen to both his phone and Taylor.

“Those are tiny headphones?” Taylor asked with a curious smile.

“Yeah, I got them implanted a couple of weeks ago. I love them!” Mason smiled back, but Taylor’s smile began to fade.

Taylor thought of the store she had seen earlier that morning. Implantations and prosthetics must not be that uncommon if a kid like Mason had them, Taylor thought to herself. Surely an arm for her father couldn’t cost that much.

“Speaking of destinations,” Mason filled the lull that had overtaken their conversation, “we still need to be somewhere.

Mason guided Taylor to one of the many central elevator shafts, keeping a closer eye on her this time. Due to the vast number of elevators, they didn’t have to wait long before one of them opened its polished, clean white doors. As they entered, a pleasant feminine voice spoke to them, requesting that they select the floor number they wanted to visit.

“Before we make it to the top,” Mason’s voice echoed in the metal elevator, “we need to run an errand.”

He pressed a button in the middle of the array of floors and the doors closed quickly. With smooth acceleration, the elevator began to climb the building at a fast pace. Taylor’s eyes were still inspecting the gadgets in Mason’s ears, but once the elevator started moving, she gripped the railing to steady herself.

“How do you charge those things?” Taylor asked.

“What, these?” Mason tapped the metal object in his ear.

Taylor nodded without saying anything.

“I don’t have to plug them in if that’s what you’re asking. The blood in my ears turn a microscopic generator-” Mason began, but after seeing Taylor’s face pale, he decided to end his sentence.

Mason continued to watch Taylor grip the elevator railing with white knuckles, “Do they have elevators outside?”

“What?” Taylor looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Outside of the walls, do they have elevators?”

“Yes, they just don’t go this fast,” Taylor huffed as she watches the digital screen display how far up the building they had traveled.

Eventually, the elevator slowed to a stop and Taylor released the handrails, rubbing her fingers. Mason kept his chuckles to himself as he watched Taylor dart out of the elevator as soon as the doors slid open. She was like a nervous cat, he thought to himself, constantly curious but scared of everything around her.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a similar, but less busy, lobby. Instead of marble floors like the main lobby, it was dark wood with swirling grain. Dark green plants grew from pots in seemingly random places in the lobby. The smell of warm bread wafted to Mason’s nose and his objective became clear again.

A bright pink doughnut shop was built into one of the lobby walls. Large pink decorative pillars reminded him of a Greek building he had seen in his history class, and large windows allowed him to see the kitchen inside. The doughnut shop was warmer than the lobby, and the smell was now intoxicating. A couple of tables accompanied by chairs dotted the shop, but at the current moment, they were empty.

Mason and Taylor stood in line and began to inspect the display window, and Mason quickly identified the raspberry-filled doughnuts he was craving. Ever since she moved into the city, Taylor told herself that she wouldn’t let herself be blinded by the luxurious lifestyle of the walled city, but the case full of pastries made her salivate. She had never seen such a diverse and colorful display of food. Outside, everything came in a vacuum-sealed pouch.

A man behind the counter quickly shoveled doughnuts into a bag for the customer in front of Mason and Taylor but the man hesitated before ringing up the customer. A device on top of the display window blinked red before coming to life. It projected words above it and the line of text scrolled sideways so that the rest of the message could be read. From where Mason was standing, the text was backward and before he could decipher the message, the man behind the counter picked it up and furrowed his brow.

Immediately, he began to shout to the workers in the kitchen using a language that Mason didn’t speak. People shuffled with a twinge of urgency before the man behind the counter spoke again, “Turn on the TV! Now!”

One of the younger workers procured the TV remote and clicked it on. A panel from the ceiling lowered and twisted, and the texture that it displayed faded into the dark television screen. After navigating through the TV’s interface, the city’s news station appeared on the screen.

A woman in a bright blue suit jacket stood among holograms and projections that displayed various news stories and information. She walked casually and pointed to some of the screens as she spoke. Images of tanks and military vehicles flashed across the screen. Mason noted that all news reporters sounded the same, with their matter-of-fact way of speech and their clear, monotone voice.

A woman in a bright blue suit jacket stood among holograms and projections that displayed various news stories and information. She walked casually and pointed to some of the screens as she poke. Images of tanks and military vehicles flashed across the screen. Mason noted that all news reporters sounded the same, with their matter-of-fact way of speech and their clear, monotone voice.

The red-haired news anchor began to speak again, “Video footage of military vehicles is becoming more frequent. We have kept track of the movement of said military vehicles, and eighty percent of these fleets have moved closer to our city’s borders in the last two weeks. The stock price of companies that provide defensive machinery to the U.S. military has risen within the last three months, and numerous factories that supply ammunition and ballistic weaponry have increased their workforce. We have not heard any communication from our government, but we continue to track their domestic fleet’s movement.”

Taylor remained quiet as she watched the television. Different videos showed heavy artillery tanks and armored trucks driving on civilian streets. It reminded her of the rumble she felt when working in the mines, and she could feel her heart rate quicken. As much as she didn’t want to, Taylor forced herself to watch. It was a good reminder of what the world was like outside.

“Cut that off,” A burly, stocky man shouted from the back of the kitchen. He stepped forward and snatched the TV remote from its previous user. His black mustache was almost as thick as his accent. His eyes searched the kitchen with a stern expression, “If these customers want to know the news, they can go home and watch the news. These people came here for pastries. Give them pastries.”

With that, the man shuffled back into the depths of the kitchen while the rest of the bakers continued their work. Mason stepped to the counter and watched the cashier fiddle with a box, his hands shaking.

“Four raspberry-filled doughnuts, please,” Mason began, however, the employee didn’t seem to react.

The employee’s hands continued to shake and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He desperately tried to open the cardboard to-go box in his hand, but suddenly in a fit of frustration, he threw it on the ground.

“Are you okay?” Mason asked.

The employee turned to Mason, “I have a family here. A wife and children,”. He paused before grunting and grabbing the next to-go box in the stack, “I came here to avoid the war, not be the epicenter of it,” he said while tears began to well up in his eyes.

The bushy-mustached man set a thick-fingered hand on the employee’s shoulder, “Adrian, my boy. Go was dishes in the back.”

With tears in his eyes, the employee nodded obediently and disappeared into the kitchen. Despite the man’s sausage-like fingers, the mustache man quickly opened a new to-go box and looked at Mason, “What can I get you, folks?”

--=|=--

Taylor had silently followed Mason back into the elevator, and Mason pressed the button at the very top of the array. The elevator doors shut quickly and the feeling of the elevator rising overwhelmed Taylor once again.

The elevator opened to reveal a room that was much smaller than any of the floors they had been to so far. There were no luxurious features either. No navigation kiosks, small restaurants and stores, and certainly no front desk with a dozen people working at computers. Up here, there were a couple of plants, drinking fountains, and a short hallway that ended with a large sliding, frosted glass door.

Mason stopped before opening the door and turned towards Taylor, “Now, prepare yourself.”

“For what?” Taylor said as she looked at the door with worry.

“For the most beautiful view you’ve ever seen.”

As the door opened, fresh air rushed into the building. The cool, crisp air shocked the lungs at first, but the temperature was pleasant. Bright rays of sunlight beckoned them to exit the building and bathe in the warmth. Taylor stood motionless as Mason stepped through the threshold.

“Where are we?” Taylor asked, but it sounded more like an interrogation. She held her ground firmly and her body was tense.

“At the top of Sunset Tower,” Mason replied.

“If we are at the top of a building, why is there grass?” Taylor demanded, not convinced by Mason’s answer.

“Why don’t you come out here and find out!” Mason begged.

Taylor stepped from the polished marble flooring onto rough stone tiles that formed the walkway in front of her. These stone tiles cut their way through trimmed grass that swayed lazily in the afternoon sun. Flowerbeds dotted the pathway and provided a sweet aroma in the air. As the two walked away from the potion of the building where the elevators were housed. More of the rooftop was visible.

The rooftop was not nearly as busy as the main floor, but the atmosphere was still lively. Some people sat on picnic blankets and conversed with friends as they ate, while others rested on benches that overlooked the edge from a safe distance. Children ran back and forth playing games, and a couple of dogs sunbathed by their owners.

Taylor’s gaze finally lifted from the rooftop and she caught a glimpse of what was beyond. From the top of Sunset Tower, you could see the entire city. Looking around, Taylor spotted the green tops of other buildings, as well as tiny people making use of the space. Small clouds formed below them and shielded the ground floor from view.

Her gasp caught Mason by surprise as Taylor reached out and grabbed his arm. Taylor clung to Mason as she soaked in her surroundings, but once she realized that she was holding on to him she pushed away from him in a huff.

Planter boxes were built in various places on the rooftop, with gardeners tending to proud, dark green plants and colorful berries. The smell of soil mixed with the flowers and created an earthy smell, even though they were hundreds of feet in the air. There were no fruit trees on the roof like there were by the sidewalks below, but strawberries and blackberries spilled out of planter boxes. Mason walked up and plucked a couple from their homes and greeted the gardener responsible for their care.

“What do you think?” Mason asked as he offered a strawberry to Taylor.

With her eyes still glued on her surroundings, she took Mason’s offering, “How is this possible?”

“I don’t think I’m the right person to answer that. I am by no means an architect,” Mason chuckled as he popped a berry in his mouth.

“No,” Taylor worked hard to keep her emotions in check, “How can this look so beautiful and alive when my hometown looks so dead?”

Mason followed Taylor as she walked closer to the edge. The railings on the roof stopped well before the edge of the building, and a sturdy fence prevented anyone from mistakenly crossing the threshold. A waving hand caught Mason’s attention and he gestured for Taylor to follow him.

“Claire is over there, come on!” Mason beckoned.

Taylor hesitated. Her gaze hadn’t left the horizon. From the top of Sunset Tower, you could see the entire city, but you were also high enough to see beyond the city wall. The lush green grass she stood in contrast with the beige barren land that surrounded the magnificent city. Her thoughts drifted back to her home and the depths of the mines that she grew up in.

Mason’s voice snapped her out of her tinted nostalgia, “Taylor, let’s go.”