Chapter 2

The sun star was waning into a display of color.

Nessa stood on the hilltop, peering into the basin below. She waved goodbye to her transit pilot.

Then she looked up at the lighted display that hovered a foot above the hill. It read--in the native Akron symbols--Capital Basin, seven measures.

"Well, here goes nothing," Nessa muttered to no one.

With that, she followed the slope of the hill.

She stopped at the base of the hill and watched. Bright skin colors of pink, purple, lime green, and various shades of blue packed the streets. Her mother was an Azure, and her father, a Green. So Nessa was blue, but had green patches. She was the only multicolored Akron native in Lenn City.

"Nessa!" A voice called through the crowd.

A hand waved wildly from inside the crowd. People moved apart, and a Purple shoved her way through.

"Iliyah!" Nessa said. "It's been so long! What are you doing here?"

"I live here now. Father bought the power station in Basin 2. The commerce tower is here, so now we are too. My nestmates are working for him."

"Your nestmates," Nessa reminisced on long days at the learning facility. "Aylen, Aja, Egan?"

"That's them. What are you doing in the Basin?" Iliyah questioned.

"Need special nourishment packets," Nessa answered with a shrug. "Our packet storage unit is full, but you know, Mother wants some special packets. So that's why I'm here."

Iliyah cast her eyes downward.

"Is something wrong?" Nessa asked.

"There's a line," Iliyah answered. "Longer than usual."

"No worries," Nessa said. "I'm not in a hurry."

"That's not the problem."

Iliyah grabbed Nessa's wrist and pointed toward the crowd.

"Follow me. If we hurry, you can still get some."

They inched toward the crowd.

"Grant pardon," Nessa called over the noise.

"Just gotta push them apart," Iliyah said.

Nessa raised her eyebrows and drew back.

"Are you sure?"

"You're not in Lenn City anymore. I'll do it. Just stay with me."

Five grueling minutes and countless inhalations of body odor later, there was the cylinder. Nourishment packets filled about half of it. The line ended at the cylinder after it wound down seventy spiral stairs.

"Great," Nessa muttered. "We WILL be here a while."

She looked over the lines. Maybe there was a selling station with fewer people.

"They're all full," Iliyah said. "I've been here all day. I've gotten nothing. We can't push the people apart here. They've got strict line control security."

The line inched forward, and the nourishment packets in the cylinder inched down. Nessa and Iliyah descended two steps, and they were facing a lighted hovering sign.

"Due to the nourishment packet shortage, please only buy one," Nessa read aloud. "We are unable to restock at this time. We are sorry. - Rayen and Laze."

Nessa jabbed Iliyah with her elbow.

"Shortage?" She demanded. "Iliyah! What's going on?"