Lee and Cariddi

Sunday, 1 March 2099

Bruno and Valinoti entered Inns Two and they both gasped at the same time. The lobby was gigantic, with marble flooring and crystal chandeliers. The couches and love-seats were made out of fine silk; the fireplace crackled, giving off a nice glow; the Attendants walked around with a mandatory smile on their faces.

"If Espington in this rich, I don't wanna know what Islington looks like," Valinoti gawked.

A smiley Attendant walked up to Bruno and Valinoti. The woman wore a button down, steel grey shirt that was tucked into a pencil skirt of the same color and material. Her high heels were bright blue as were her eyes. The Attendant's brown hair was wrapped into a stylish bun with a cyan hair clip pressed in the middle.

"Hello," she smiled her fake smile. "My name is Katrina. Are you two from Adlington?"

Bruno and Valinoti nodded.

"I expected that," she giggled. "All the Miners have been coming in. May I see your ID Cards?"

Bruno and Valinoti handed Katrina the Cards and, once again, she giggled. "Oh! You're both roommates, how convenient! Right this way."

Katrina led the boys to where the elevators were located. She handed them back their ID Cards.

"Just push your floor number and, when you get to the fourth floor just walk straight down the hallway," she said.

Bruno and Valinoti entered the elevator and pressed the button that had the number 4 on it. Katrina waved to them.

"Bye-bye! If you need anything, don't hesitate to call! Our hotline is━"

But the elevator door slammed shut.

"Wow, she was annoying," Bruno said.

"But sexy," Valinoti admitted.

"Yeah."

Valinoti laughed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...You had your eyes on that Rina girl, didn't ya?"

"Huh, what? Me? No. No, no, no," Bruno was blushing now.

"Sure, Bruno, sure."

The elevator door opened up and the boys walked down the hall. The hallway floor was carpeted with patterns of grey triangles and blue rhombi. Frames of aerial views of Espington and the President himself covered the walls. At the end of the hallway was a window, but Bruno and Valinoti did not make it there. They stopped at Room Nine, their room, in the middle of the hallway.

"Swipe your card, dude!" Valinoti grinned.

Bruno did and there was a click. He turned the knob and walked inside, Valinoti standing right behind him.

The dormitory was gigantic just like the Inns' lobby. The boys walked right into the common area. There were two four-cushioned, steel grey sofas; two grey loveseats; cyan carpeting, a flat-screen TV, and a balcony. Behind the one sofa was a counter with barstools. And behind the counter was the kitchenette that included a sink, fridge, oven, stove and microwave. Next to the balcony was a cyan table with six grey chairs. Frames of landscapes covered the grey wallpapers. There was a deluxe coffee machine on the table next to the television.

"This place is unbelievable!" Valinoti shouted.

"Who's there?" someone called out.

"Um, Bruno and Valinoti?" Bruno answered. "We were assigned to this dorm."

Two boys appeared from around the wall. One boy was Kuslaumican-Togluagoan, the other was White-Togluagoan. The eye-catching feature with the Caucasian was that he wore a grey onesie with a bulletproof vest. A blue helmet rested in his one hand, a walkie-talkie in the other.

"'Bout time we had more roommates!" the Kuslaumican boy said. "The name's Lee and this, here, is my roomy, Cariddi."

Everyone exchanged handshakes; Bruno and Valinoti repeated their names. Then there was a thirty-second awkward silence.

"Well, this, here, is the common area," Lee said. "Down the right hall is Room A, where Cariddi and I live as well as one of the bathrooms and a mudroom."

"One of the bathrooms?" Valinoti repeated.

"Yeah," Cariddi said, putting his helmet on the sofa. "Down the left hall is Room B and another bathroom. But, Room C has it's own bathroom because it is much larger."

"So, there's three bathrooms in this suite?" Bruno asked.

"Indeed!" Lee chuckled.

"Then, why didn't you two choose Room C?" Valinoti asked. "You just said it's the biggest."

"We thought about it," Lee said. "But we would rather have our own hallway then our own room. The only time you guys would come down our hallway is to use the mudroom for laundry."

"Ahh," Bruno and Valinoti said.

There was another thirty second awkward silence. Cariddi finally broke it.

"You two look really dirty," he said. "Wash up in the showers and get changed. We can all go out to the Eatery for dinner. Lucky you all came on a Sunday because there isn't any work."

"'Cept for you, Cariddi!" Lee laughed.

"What's your job?" Valinoti asked.

"It's the Guard, isn't it?" Bruno guessed.

"Yup, and I love it! I work from eight to midnight today."

"How'd ya know, Bruno?" Valinoti asked.

"Jago and Sayer wore the same uniforms."

"Oh, stay away from those two," Cariddi said. "Those sticklers love getting residents in trouble for no damn reason!"

"I had to work a Sunday at the Factory when Sayer caught me 'loitering' in the Heart past curfew," Lee said putting air quotes around loitering with his fingers.

Bruno turned his head. "Did you just say 'Factory'?"

"Yes," Lee said. "That's my job."

Bruno and Valinoti laughed. "Us, too!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Cariddi groaned. "Ya'll work together, and I don't?"

"Oh, be quiet!" Lee said. "I'd rather be a Guard holding a taser-baton, getting paid ten an hour than be a Factory Worker."

"What's bad about the Factory?" Bruno asked.

"Shower up," Lee said. "I'll explain at dinner."

Bruno and Valinoti decided to take Room B. It was big enough where nothing was crammed and the light came in through the window perfectly. Valinoti did not want Room C because of the bunk beds and how the bathroom inside the room would only make it smell bad.

"Espington even gave us our own clothing!" Bruno gasped.

"What did you expect?" Valinoti wondered. "We all came here with only the clothes and dirt on our backs."

"True."

Valinoti walked to Room C to take a shower (he had told Bruno that he'd make sure his head wouldn't touch the water); Bruno grabbed a towel and walked into the hallway bathroom.

Bruno noticed how immaculate the bathroom was. The quartz sink was without a stain as was the porcelain toilet. The shower had a glass door and a spot to sit inside. The walls were stone grey and the floor was blue. Bruno did not even notice how the toilet paper was also dyed turquoise.

When Bruno turned the knob, he was surprised to feel the immediate, warm water. And, on top of that, the shower head disconnected into a body hose. Bruno washed all the dirt off his skin and hair. There was soil stuck under his nails and behind his ears. It was a good sight to see for Bruno when the water going down the drain went from brown back to transparent.

There was a knock on the door.

"How hot do ya have the water?" Lee called out, laughing. "The friggin' steam is comin' in the hall!"

"Sorry, I'm just not used to this warm of water!" Bruno smiled and that was when he knew he was going to be good friends with Valinoti, Lee, and Cariddi.

Bruno walked back into Room B with Espington apparel on now; he threw his Miner uniform in the kitchenette disposal chute. Valinoti claimed the bed on the right so Bruno just jumped on the other bed.

"Comfy, right?" Valinoti smiled.

"Is this memory foam?" Bruno asked. "In Adlington, I shared a thirty-Shilling mattress with my sisters."

"That's suck," Valinoti said. "I miss my family, 'specially my mom."

"Yeah."

There was a knock on the boy's door. "Yo, it's Cariddi. Come on out!"

Bruno looked at the clock on the nightstand; it was only four o'clock in the afternoon, way too early for supper. But they still walked out of their room and into the common room.

Cariddi and Lee were looking at something, in the same spot where Valinoti and Bruno were standing when they first arrived in Room Nine. The wall blocked Bruno's view so he did not see what his roommates were looking at.

Cariddi turned. "What's taking you two so long? Come say hi!"

Bruno and Valinoti walked past the wall and froze when they saw what Lee and Cariddi were smiling about.

Standing at the open door was the amber-haired boy. His left pinky was wrapped in a cast that connected to his gauzed wrist. Other than that he was still in his Mining uniform with no other visible injuries.

"Bruno, Valinoti," Lee said. "Meet our new roommate, Anzalone!"

And the amber-haired boy waved hello.